Letters to the editor can be submitted by sending an email to tuletters@timesunion.com or completing this form. See our guidelines on letters.

We are fortunate in the Capital Region to have Albany Medical Center, the region’s largest hospital and the only Level 1 Trauma Center between Canada and Westchester. Our members and their families, nearly 240,000 in the Capital Region, rely on Albany Med for care. However, quality patient care requires proper staffing, a key component in a contract dispute between the hospital and its nurses that has dragged on for months.

The New York State Nurses Association, a professionally run organization focused on giving nurses a voice in the workplace, has been sounding an alarm over staffing levels. However, hospital leadership has turned a deaf ear to the nurses, many of whom feel they have been silenced by management.

While the hospital can claim that staffing levels are adequate, workers have a right to express their disagreement.

Working people in this community deserve better. The Albany Med nurses want what we all deserve: good wages and affordable healthcare benefits. They want reasonable hours and workloads and safe working conditions. They want a voice on the job so they can do their job correctly.

It’s time for hospital administrators to listen to their nurses and settle a fair contract now, which will benefit the dedicated workforce and the community.

New York’s 2.5 million-member union movement stands in solidarity with nurses at Albany Med, fighting for patients’ safety, a fair contract, dignity, and respect. The full resources of the entire union movement will be at their disposal for as long as necessary. We are in this fight together.

The writer is the President of the New York State AFL-CIO.

Published Jan. 13, 2025

The nursing shortage in New York and the nation cannot be solved easily. Mandating/legislating staffing requirements won’t work and neither will the New York State Nurses Association's threat to strike unless the mandate is met.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are “193,100 projected job openings for registered nurses on average per year until 2032. However, for the decade between 2022-2032, the United States expects only an additional 177,400 nurses to enter the workforce, which is less than what is needed to fill one year of projected openings.”

It’s pretty easy to conclude that the supply of nurses available to fill the many job openings can’t possibly be filled no matter how many mandates the state Legislature passes to try and address this shortage.

My wife and I are both retired registered nurses. When my wife graduated from high school in 1973, she had three professional pathways: secretary, teacher or nurse. So much has changed but most impactful is the growth of opportunities (thankfully) for women who aspire to become physicians, business leaders, engineers, and a multitude of other professionals.

The Baby Boomer crest is upon us, leading to a problem on both sides of this equation. More nurses reaching retirement age on one side and an increase in the medical needs of an aging population on the other.

The state should continue to offer loan forgiveness and other incentives that would start to address this shortage by encouraging students to enter the nursing profession and for graduate nurses to remain in New York.

Published Jan. 13, 2025

I have used New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program since 2002 for my home care, and I have never been more frightened due........

© Times Union