Houlton Nurses Declare No Confidence In CEO After Second Strike
The union says the hospital board has had months to address concerns raised since a four-day walkout in May.
Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital hand-delivered a signed letter declaring no confidence in the hospital's chief executive, Jeff Zewe, to the Board of Trustees' president on July 30, the Bangor Daily News reported. Represented by the Maine State Nurses Association, the bargaining unit has gone without a new labor agreement since its last one lapsed on Nov. 30, 2024, and the letter arrives soon after a four-day walkout in May, the group's second work stoppage in six months. The union kept the letter's specific complaints from the newspaper. Five of the hospital's nurses said in a joint statement that they were pressing the board to respond, having already given it time to address what the letter raised. Board President Lynette McLaughlin answered with her own letter to the community that steered clear of the no-confidence vote, saying trustees remain focused on collaborating with clinical staff and pointing to over $2 million spent on imaging equipment and other upgrades during the past 13 months under a management arrangement with Northern Maine Medical Center. The union and hospital leadership remain divided chiefly over emergency department and intermediate care staffing levels, and over contract language on minimum staffing that the union says management wants stripped out.
This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.
