Congratulations San Dimas Nurses! Registered Nurses at San Dimas Community Hospital voted unanimously to ratify their first Union contract earlier this month. Nurses joined together to unionize out of a sense of alarm over the quality of patient care in an environment where the hospital has increasingly turned to temporary nurses from outside staffing agencies to fill the holes left by fleeing staff. High Nurse turnover rates are a consistent theme across multiple hospitals owned by Prime Healthcare, Inc., which owns San Dimas Community Hospital. The contract creates a Joint Labor Management Committee tasked with improving patient care and working conditions, and contains prohibitions on unsafe floating. The agreement also calls for a plan to create a dedicated Break/Resource Nurse, so that Nurses can take meal and rest breaks in accordance with the law. “We’ve been experiencing massive staff turnover. Nurses could not be convinced to stay, and the lack of consistent and safe staffing makes a lot of us concerned about the quality of patient care at our hospital,” said Joann Calizo, an RN in the Emergency Department who served on the Union’s bargaining team. “With our contract, we’ll finally be able to keep Nurses and that stability will lead to safer conditions for our patients.”