U of C Medical Center plans patient transfers if nurses strike

The University of Chicago Medical Center said Monday it has started planning for transfers of high-risk patients to prepare for a threatened strike Nov. 26 by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United union.

The one-day strike would fall just before Thanksgiving, and the hospital said it is struggling to line up enough qualified substitute nurses. The hospital and the union are bargaining over a new contract and it’s possible the strike could be averted.

But if it plays out like the nurses’ one-day strike in September, the hospital will lock out the union members for five days, saying it needs to guarantee the replacements a minimum amount of work.

The hospital said the union “has timed its second strike to maximize the disruption to health care on the South Side.” The union could not be reached Monday night.

The hospital said it and Comer Children’s Hospital cannot now admit high-risk pregnant mothers and newborns. It said it is making transfer arrangements for 20 patients in the pediatric intensive care unit and 50 babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.