Statement Regarding Reported Strike at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital

We are deeply grateful to our nurses for the dedication, commitment and compassion they demonstrate in their roles each and every day.

We have been negotiating in good faith with Teamsters leaders since April, meeting with them dozens of times, including with a federal mediator. It is still our great hope that our nurses will see the value in our proposed contract and we can avoid a strike. Regardless, we are taking necessary steps to prepare.

Here are some important facts:

 The hospital will remain open
• If the Teamsters stage a strike, Henry Ford Genesys Hospital will remain open.
• All nurses will be given the opportunity to choose to work during the strike.
• The hospital will be fully and safely staffed by team members and contracted nurses, who will ensure seamless patient care while their nursing colleagues strike. 

The proposed contract
• Henry Ford Genesys Hospital’s proposed contract includes a robust and competitive compensation package that includes overtime and benefits.
• The competitive compensation package is aligned with what’s offered to nurses across all the other Henry Ford Health acute care hospitals—of which there are 13 in total.

Financial turnaround underway
• On October 1, 2024, Henry Ford Health assumed operations of Genesys Hospital, which has been in steep decline for years with average annual losses of about $50 million.
• New leaders are forging ahead with thoughtful and strategic steps to restore the hospital’s financial stability, including operational changes and/or consolidation of services. Labor negotiations are happening amid these turnaround efforts. 
• By addressing these issues head-on, Henry Ford Health affirms its deep commitment to its Genesee County team members and to advancing the health and wellbeing of everyone who calls the area home. 

Safe staffing and nursing ratios
• We’re committed to safe nurse staffing models that provide the best quality of care for our patients and our communities. 
• We staff our hospitals based on patient volumes and other factors. Mandated staffing ratios hinder our ability to adapt to varying patient conditions.
• Research indicates mandated ratios increase wait times and patient boarding in emergency departments, delay transfers of patients into ICUs, and require clinically unnecessary patient transfers between hospitals.
• A peer-reviewed study on the impact of government mandated ratios in Massachusetts ICUs, based on a June 2014 law setting a maximum patient-to-nurse ratio of 2:1, found mandated ratios did not increase nurse staffing or change patient outcomes.

We will continue to communicate as the situation evolves. Please contact mediarelations@hfhs.org with any inquiries.

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