Contact: Dave Bates, 347-865-8038, dave.bates@hailstonecommunications.com
Dean nurses say they are thrilled to unite with union nurses at SSM St. Mary’s and other hospitals, and call on SSM executives to immediately begin negotiating a contract to solve the crisis of understaffing, burnout and turnover
Madison, Wis. – 340 nurses at 10 SSM Dean Medical Group outpatient clinics in Dane County have won their union election by a strong majority in order to raise standards for their patients and profession. They now have a united voice to advocate for better staffing, professional compensation that retains nurses, and supportive policies to ensure the highest quality patient care, nurses say. The Dean nurses voted by 71% to form their union and say they are thrilled to unite with union nurses at SSM St. Mary’s, who won their union election by a landslide in June. Together, they are calling on SSM executives to respect their vote, stop wasting resources on a campaign to try to silence their voices, and start negotiating contracts to solve the urgent crisis of understaffing, burnout and loss of experienced nurses. Nurses say they want to build a relationship with SSM based on mutual respect, open communication and cooperation toward shared goals.
Dean nurses filed for their election on Aug. 10, voting began at the clinics on Sept. 22, and the votes were counted the night of Sept. 25. Nurses were inspired by the momentum of SSM St. Mary’s Hospital nurses’ landslide victory, the largest private sector union election in recent state history. These latest wins are part of a wave of thousands of healthcare professionals forming unions across the country in response to the consolidation of corporate power in the industry.
“We voted to form our union so that we have a strong, local voice to advocate for our patients, our coworkers and our community,” said Kat Doebler, who has been a nurse for almost 30 years and works in the SSM Health Outpatient Surgery Center. “For too long, policies have been handed down from SSM executives in St. Louis that force nurses to do more and more with fewer and fewer resources. This intense focus of extracting corporate profits out of us has led to burnout and the loss of some of our very best nurses. It’s time for the nurses who actually take care of patients to have a seat at the table in the decisions that affect our jobs and how we provide that care. We are very disappointed that instead of respecting our freedom to form a union, SSM has been waging a campaign to violate our rights. Together with our coworkers at St. Mary’s, we’re calling on SSM to stop breaking federal law and start working with us to make sure our clinics and the hospital are the best places to work and receive care.”
“We enthusiastically welcome Dean nurses into our growing union with open arms, and we are more determined than ever to win strong contracts that protect patients and nurses,” said Dani Passon, who has worked in healthcare for almost three decades and is an operating room nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital. “SSM executives are disrespecting us as professionals and disrespecting our decisive union victory because they believe they can intimidate us into backing down. They are sorely mistaken. We are building our unstoppable nursing movement and we are 100% confident that through our united action, we will hold SSM accountable to our community.”
Dean nurses work in outpatient clinics for cancer treatment, urgent care, family medicine, surgery, gastrointestinal care, and other essential services. They say they are struggling with serious problems around short staffing, exhaustion, unfair compensation and policies that do not support and retain staff, among other concerns. Multiple clinical studies confirm that adequate nurse staffing levels and retention of experienced nurses are absolutely critical for patient safety and quality of care. But healthcare corporations too often prioritize expansion, branding and executive compensation over the needs of patients, nurses say.
The almost 900 nurses at SSM St. Mary’s Hospital voted by 89% to form their union in June, and on July 22, the National Labor Relations Board regional office overruled the objections of SSM and certified the union election. Leading up to the elections at both St. Mary’s and Dean, SSM waged an aggressive pressure campaign aimed at stopping nurses from forming their union, which included misleading propaganda, destroying union information and threats.
Earlier this month, St. Mary’s nurses filed official charges with the National Labor Relations Board that include failing to engage in negotiations, as required under the law; discriminating against nurses by prohibiting union information while allowing non-union information; destroying and confiscating the nurses’ union materials; and threatening nurses with discipline for activities supporting their union.
These scare tactics waste resources, distract from patient care and cause further anxiety for the already-overburdened nursing workforce. Nurses and community members say that the conduct of SSM, a Catholic health system based in St. Louis, violates local Madison and Wisconsin values, as well as Catholic social teaching.
While St. Mary’s and Dean nurses have been struggling, SSM had $12.6 billion in operating revenue, $1.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and $483 million in profits last year, and SSM’s CEO had $7.8 million in compensation in 2024. Nurses say SSM has both the resources and the moral responsibility to address their concerns and ensure St. Mary’s Hospital and Dean clinics are the healthcare providers and employers of choice.
Throughout their efforts, St. Mary’s and Dean nurses have been supported by union nurses at UW Health and Meriter. Meriter nurses have been able to negotiate a strong union contract with a voice in staffing, a pay scale that rewards years of experience, fair scheduling, better paid time off, and other supportive policies. Now, St. Mary’s and Dean nurses are looking forward to continuing to build their movement of healthcare professionals, and are planning a series of public actions in coming weeks to advocate for their patients and community.
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SEIU Wisconsin is the state’s largest and fastest-growing healthcare union, representing over 8,000 hospital, nursing home, home care and social service workers united to win quality care and good jobs for all.
