Without warning, MNA staff member Ona Keller, 23, was physically assaulted by a security officer this morning at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, MN. She sustained neck and arm injuries in the assault and was admitted to the North Memorial Emergency Room, where she was treated and released a few hours later. Keller, who works with North Memorial nurses as an organizer, peacefully and quietly walked into the hospital’s public lobby shortly after 7:00 a.m. Friday with other RNs, marking the end of a 24-hour strike for patient safety. She was accompanying North Memorial nurses as a show of support for those RNs walking back into the hospital to report for work.
A security officer grabbed Keller by the arm, began manhandling her and then physically dragged her across the lobby and threw her out into the street. The Robbinsdale Police Department was called to the scene, and Keller will be filing formal criminal charges later today.
In a daytime press conference, hospital officials called the incident “unfounded,” though Keller did receive treatment immediately after the incident at the North Memorial ER and was given discharge papers and a bill for the medical care she received.
Media Contact: John Nemo, MNA, 651-414-2863