On Saturday, registered nurses at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore will gather to advocate for patient safety and to strengthen support for their unionization efforts.
On September 10, nurses submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board requesting a union election. According to the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), ongoing patient safety issues, such as chronic short-staffing and insufficient equipment and supplies, have spurred the move toward unionization and prompted the rally scheduled for this Saturday. The nurses further claim that the hospital’s management has engaged in actions aimed at obstructing their union efforts.
“We feel a strong need to establish a union due to the worsening conditions within our hospital,” stated Katie Stancil-Ervin, an RN working in the emergency department. “In the ER, we constantly see patients who are left waiting for hours without being admitted, as there aren’t enough nurses available on the units. Additionally, ICU nurses are overwhelmed, caring for three patients each when the recommended limit is two. We also face issues with broken equipment in the operating room, which delays critical care. These ongoing issues need urgent attention, and MedStar has not taken necessary steps to resolve them. This is precisely why we are striving for a robust union contract that will address these serious patient safety concerns.”
The nurses have brought attention to the fact that both MedStar Franklin Square and MedStar Washington Hospital Center were highlighted in a report on the longest emergency room wait times in the nation for 2025. They argue that this data underscores their claims of severe staffing shortages within the MedStar Health system. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that the national average wait time for an ER visit is 162 minutes, while MedStar Franklin Square’s average stands at 367 minutes, and MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s at 377 minutes—both figures significantly exceeding the national average.
As not-for-profit institutions, MedStar hospitals benefit from substantial tax exemptions and receive both federal and state grants. The nurses noted that MedStar was awarded $78.9 million in federal grants for 2025, and generated over one billion dollars in 2024 and 2025.
The Nurses’ Rally for Patient Safety is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, located at 9000 Franklin Square Drive, Baltimore. Participants will gather on the public sidewalk at the intersection of Franklin Square Drive and Hospital Drive.
