The Truth About Albany Med’s Greed
Albany Medical Center is investing in executive pay, real estate holdings, and other money-making investments, all while allowing patient care at the hospital to suffer and the ongoing nurse staffing crisis to grow.
Instead of listening to the nurses and delivering a fair contract for nurses and patients, Albany Med execs are hiding the truth about unsafe staffing, corporate greed, and their unlawful behavior.
The Truth About the Staffing Crisis
An Ongoing Investigation into 50+ Staffing Violations
New York State Department of Health (DOH) investigators continue to be a presence at Albany Med after delivering a Staffing Deficiency Report to Albany Med several weeks ago. The hospital has until Oct. 7 to develop a plan and work with the staffing committee to correct deficiencies, but it refused to meet with the staffing committee. Only after nearly 30 days and legal action by NYSNA did administrators agree to meet—and just days before the deadline.
Nurses at Albany Med have filed numerous complaints that show how the hospital violates the state’s safe staffing ratios for critical care. For example, while the law requires there be no more than two babies receiving ICU level care assigned to one nurse, one complaint described a NICU shift in which 19 nurses were responsible for 51 babies. Nurses were unable to take breaks, or they would be leaving up to 6 babies in the care of a single nurse.
Nurses who filed these complaints have received letters that confirm over 50 violations of the hospital’s staffing plan. Nurses documented that these legal violations continued to be a frequent occurrence even after the DOH began its investigation.
Nurse Hiring and Retention Crisis at Albany Med
Albany Med has high nurse turnover and few experienced nurses. Approximately 50% of Albany Med nurses have less than 5 years of bedside experience at Albany Med. That’s twice as many inexperienced nurses as comparable hospitals’ workforces. There are currently nearly 600 vacant nursing positions (source: hospital-supplied data). Albany Med’s nurse vacancy rate is nearly 25% compared to the average national vacancy rate that one study found of 10%.
For the last two years, more nurses have left the hospital than have been hired. In 2023, Albany Med hired 277 RNs, but 315 left. As of July 2024, the hospital hired 98 RNs, but there have been 156 departures – more than in the same time frame last year. The hospital is on track to hire 100 new grads, which will help fill vacancies, but this will not add experienced nurses or address retention problems. (source: hospital-supplied data)
Albany Med is planning a $24 million expansion of the Emergency Department at Glen Falls Hospital. Despite their claims of also expanding the ED at Albany Med, the hospital has yet to file a Certificate of Need with the DOH or share concrete plans with nurses. They still have the longest ER visit times in New York State, and some of the longest in the country.
The Truth About Executive Greed
Albany Med invests in pay for top executives, while offering subpar wages and benefits to frontline nurses, further fueling the staffing crisis.
Albany Med’s CEO received nearly $2 million in executive compensation in 2022. In one two-week pay period, Dr. McKenna makes close to what Albany Med nurses make in an entire year.
According to 2022 audited financial statements, Albany Med has invested $83 million into hedge funds, real estate, and other investments. They have also spent an additional $25 million on foreign investments.
Historically, Albany Med has been accused of colluding with capital region hospitals to keep nurse wages low. The hospitals, including Albany Medical Center Hospital, Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, and St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, settled a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit over allegations of a wage-fixing conspiracy where they kept nurse wages suppressed from 2002 – 2006.
Albany Med’s wages continue to be poor. Their starting pay for registered nurses does not always meet the self-sufficiency standard for Albany County, which is the amount of income required to meet basic needs without assistance.
The Truth About “Fiscal Responsibility” at Albany Med
Hospital executives have publicly emphasized the need for “fiscal responsibility” when delivering a contract to nurses. But administrators have also repeatedly and unlawfully refused to share how much money the hospital spends on temporary travel nurses. Temporary travel nurses earn approximately twice as much as staff nurses per hour. Instead of investing in recruiting and retaining dedicated staff nurses from the community, Albany Med has continued to use a secret number of temporary travel nurses as a stop-gap solution to the staffing crisis, while still failing to safely staff the hospital.
The Truth About Albany Med’s Unlawful Behavior
Albany Med administrators have been vocal about their anti-union position, and they’ve gone as far as to retaliate against union nurses—some of the most vocal patient advocates—at the hospital. NYSNA filed multiple labor law charges against Albany Med for retaliating against outspoken union leaders. This retaliation includes being disciplined for talking to coworkers about the union, union activity, and ongoing issues in the workplace.
Albany Med is potentially violating labor law by withholding critical information from union nurses. Albany Med has repeatedly refused to provide information on the use of agency travel nurses and about the staffing issues cited by the Department of Health.