Nurses vote to ratify new contract agreement

Nurses at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center represented by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania voted today to ratify a tentative agreement reached earlier this week for a new three-year contract. The new contract covers approximately 1,600 Penn State Hershey nurses and is effective April 1 until March 31, 2018.

The terms of the agreement respect the important contributions of all Penn State Hershey employees. The contract provides competitive wages and benefits for nurses over the next three years and helps the Medical Center maintain its status as an employer of choice in the region.

“This new agreement lets us continue to focus on our common goal to provide high quality, safe outcomes for the patients we serve, and it enables us to remain competitive when recruiting the best talent,” said Sherry Kwater, MSM, BSN, RN, chief nursing officer.

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.

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