Editor’s note: the following is a press release issued on behalf of St. Elizabeth nurses. It is reprinted exactly as delivered; please note this is not a news story written by Courier-Herald staff. Franciscan Health System has been contacted for a response and this item will be updated as Franciscan offers a reply.

Nurses at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw (formerly Enumclaw Regional Hospital) are set to strike for one day on March 22 over the hospital’s failure to bargain in good faith and make a commitment to patient and staffing improvements.

More than 100 nurses, members of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, are asking the hospital, owned by the Franciscan Health System, to commit to staffing improvements that would improve patient care and retention of nurses.

The strike is set to begin at 6:00 am on Tuesday, March 22 and continue until 11:00 pm.

“We’ve told the hospital we’re available to bargain every day between now and the strike. We’d rather settle a contract than go on strike, but we need to put our patients first and stand up for patient staffing improvements,” said Kathy Gibson, RN.

Gibson continued, “As nurses, we have great commitment to patient safety in our hospital, and we want to ensure that patients don’t have to wait to get the care they need. We’d like the hospital to make the same commitment to staffing – as a very profitable hospital, they can afford to invest in patient care and work with us at the bargaining table to make our patients a top priority.”

Enumclaw Regional Hospital posted a 14.9% operating profit margin for the 2010 calendar year, with profits of $7.3 million.

The nurses have been bargaining with the hospital for nearly a year. The current contract expired March 31, 2010.