Medical Center and nurses union reach tentative contract agreement

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, which represents approximately 1,600 nurses, have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract.

If ratified by the members of the union during voting sessions scheduled for this Friday, April 3, the contract will be effective today, April 1, and remain in effect until March 31, 2018.

The terms of the agreement respect the important contributions of all Penn State Hershey employees. It provides competitive wages and benefits for nurses, helping the Medical Center maintain its status as an employer of choice in the region and ensuring the organization can continue to recruit the best employees.

“We are proud that this agreement was reached through a spirit of openness and collegiality during the negotiation process,” said Sherry Kwater, MSM, BSN, RN, chief nursing officer. “If ratified by our nurses later this week, the new contract will ensure a continued focus on the organization's missions of patient care, research, education, and service to the community during a time of great change for our health system and the health care industry.”

Founded in 1963 through a gift from The Milton S. Hershey Foundation, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a leading academic medical center located in Hershey, Pa. The 551-bed Medical Center is a provider of high-level, patient-focused medical care. Annually the Medical Center admits more than 29,000 patients, accepts more than 911,000 outpatient visits, receives nearly 67,000 emergency room patients and performs more than 29,000 surgical procedures. The Medical Center campus includes Penn State College of Medicine (Penn State's medical school), Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, and Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital—the region's only children's hospital. The Medical Center campus is part of Penn State Hershey Health System, which also includes the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, Penn State Hershey Rehabilitation Hospital, and other specialty facilities.

If you're having trouble accessing this content, or would like it in another format, please email Penn State Health Marketing & Communications.