MORGANTOWN — Morgantown-based MedExpress is eliminating all of its registered nursing positions at all of its more than 145 medical centers, according to reports in Becker’s, a national medical industry publication, and Nurse.Org, a national nursing information platform.
The outlets reported the news Monday and Tuesday, saying Sept. 7 is the target date to eliminate the positions.
A petition on change.org — with 3,816 signatures Wednesday afternoon — calls on MedExpress to reverse the decision, saying, “The clinicians of MedExpress have recently become aware of the business decision to fire all of the registered nurses nationwide. This is a rash, reckless, and unsafe decision for a number of reasons. … Without significant, mandatory, hands-on, company-wide training to make this new model work, it is completely negligent.”
Becker’s, Nurse.Org and various job-related discussion sites report that the layoffs/firings appear to be part of a larger move by MedExpress’ parent organization, Optum, which is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.
The Dominion Post contacted Optum about the reports and spokeswoman Kristin Anderson said in an email, “MedExpress continually assesses and evolves our staffing models to better reflect urgent care industry standards. As always, we will support team members affected with job placement resources and seek to deploy them where possible to any open roles within the company.”
A review of MedExpress job postings shows no openings for RNs. There are openings for independent nurse practitioners and for physician assistants — who are care providers — and for licensed practical nurses and radiologic technologists.
MedExpress also makes no note of RNs in its career listings, noting under the heading of clinical staff, “Our radiologic technologists and medical assistants are dedicated to surpassing the expectations of patients — every day.”
The authors of the change.org petition say, “Nurses are the core of our facility, and one of the biggest reasons that patients choose to come to MedExpress instead of other urgent care facilities. Many of our providers have never had any formal training in reconstituting medications, administering medications, never mind all of the effort that happens behind the scenes to make sure those medications are available, unexpired, stored correctly, and safe to use.
“Medical assistants,” it continues, “although a valuable resource in our clinics, do not have the expertise and it is beyond their scope of practice to perform most nursing duties. … Most of the X-ray technicians that are now going to be tasked with the responsibility to start IV lines and respond to emergency situations have no training for these duties and are not comfortable with doing so.”
Many of the petition’s signatories have added comments about the reasons they signed, including former MedExpress nurses. One wrote, “I am an RN who is among those terminated. Our clinic is the only option for many of our low SES population. Health illiteracy is rampant and RNs play a critical role in providing holistic and comprehensive nursing care. Many of our technical staff have never experienced the type of medical emergencies that present to the clinic like anaphylaxis, chest pain, respiratory distress. They rely on me for this and rightfully so. The MAs and X-ray techs that I know did not go to nursing school nor do they want to perform RN duties for which they are not paid to do.”
Mon Health System previously had a collaborative care and transfer agreement in place with MedExpress, and MedExpress has an office on Mon Health’s Morgantown campus with a sign on the side mentioning that relationship. However, Mon Health’s legal team said Wednesday that they no longer have any affiliation.
Asked about the move at MedExpress, Katie Davidson, chief human resources officer for Mon Health System, said, “We have heard about the decision by MedExpress to change their staffing model to no longer include registered nurses. We welcome any RN who has been impacted to explore the multiple opportunities we have throughout Mon Health System, which appreciates the unique skill set nurses provide and supports them with competitive pay, benefits, and respect for what they do.”
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