FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Dec. 5

News from the Michigan Nurses Association
Contact: Andrew Baker; 517-488-1707

Marquette Nurses take out Ad in Duke Chronicle
University asked to consider its responsibility toward UPHS Marquette patients

(Marquette, MI) Yesterday, UPHS Marquette RN Staff Council/Michigan Nurses Association members stepped up their efforts to draw attention to chronic RN short staffing, forced RN overtime, and unsafe patient care conditions at UPHS Marquette.
 
Nurses ran a full-page color ad in the Duke Chronicle, a paper for students and alumni of Duke University, asking why trustees would allow the Duke LifePoint partnership to drag their health system’s sterling reputation through the mud in exchange for a small cut of hospital profit.
 
“Duke University Health System presents itself as a world-class institution, but conditions in Marquette tell a different story. Maybe they put patients first down in North Carolina, but it seems like they are just cashing in on their partnership with LifePoint in the UP,” said Scott Balko, Operating Room RN and President of the UPHS Marquette RN Staff Council/MNA. “Hopefully this gets Duke’s attention, and they live up to their responsibility to our patients.”
 
In 2012, non-profit Marquette General Hospital was purchased by Duke LifePoint, which is a for-profit
partnership between Duke University Health System and LifePoint Health. Nurses say that the result is a “profits over patients” mentality that tarnishes Duke’s good name.
 
A copy of the ad that was placed in the Duke Chronicle can be downloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3g6kya5ll9ifxx/Duke%20Chronicle%20Ad.pdf?dl=0
 
For background information, visit: www.supportUPnurses.org/press-release

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