Mass. Nurses to Divert Ambulances to the State House on May 9
With Delivery of Thousands of Public Signatures in Support of the Safe Staffing Bill

MNA Ambulance Caravan will make stops at 10 hospitals with local press conferences at each stop (see list of stops and times below), arriving at the State House at 2 p.m.

Event Marks National Nurses Week and Culminates Statewide Petition Drive by Thousands of RNs

Click here to learn all about the MNA's Petition Drive for Safe Staffing

On May 9th, registered nurses in Massachusetts will celebrate National Nurses Week and culminate a statewide petition drive in support of Quality Patient Care/Safe Staffing Legislation, with an Ambulance Caravan that will pick up and deliver thousands of public signatures to the State House at 2 p.m.

The event is being organized by the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Beginning on the morning of May 9,three MNA-driven ambulances and buses, will traverse the state, stopping at 10 different hospitals to pick up petitions and to hold local press conferences at each stop. The ambulances final destination will be the front steps of the State House in Boston, where Representative Christine Canavan (D-Brockton), who is an RN and one of the lead sponsors of the bill, will greet the caravan to receive the petitions on behalf of the legislature.

The ambulances will travel three routes:

• Western Massachusetts and Metrowest, making its first stop at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield (7 a.m.), on to Providence Hospital in Holyoke (9 a.m.), to Worcester Medical Center (11 a.m.), to Newton-Wellesley Hospital (12:30 p.m.), and arriving at the State House at 2 p.m.
• North Shore and Cambridge, beginning with a stop at Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport (10 a.m.), to Northeast Health Systems in Beverly (11 a.m.), to Cambridge Hospital (12:30 p.m.) and arriving at the State House at 2 p.m.
• South of Boston, starting at Cape Cod Hospital (10 a.m.), on to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth (11 a.m.), to Quincy Medical Center (12:30 p.m.) and on to the State House.

Thousands of nurses across the Commonwealth are participating in the week-long petition drive (May 1 – 7). With the theme, "Registered Nurses: The Key to Quality Care," the signature collection effort is designed to educate the public about problems associated with poor staffing levels in Massachusetts health care facilities and to garner public support for legislation to regulate safe nurse-to-patient ratios. Nurses and the MNA believe the measure is essential to protecting patients, preserving the quality of health care in Massachusetts, and ending the nursing shortage. Nurses Week is an annual event that runs from May 6 – 12.

Contact: David Schildmeier 781.249.0430 or 508.426.1655 (Pager)

Call David Schildmeier to help arrange interviews with nurses participating in the petition drive and/or Ambulance Caravan from your local coverage area. Interested media are invited to ride on the buses if they so choose.