Today nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association held an informational picket outside Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Center City. Nurses say negotiations with hospital management have been frustrating and unproductive.
Nurses are fighting for a fair first contract that ensures patient safety, workforce sustainability and secure benefits to keep highly skilled nurses at the bedside.
Nurses have been in contract negotiations with hospital management since January 2025 when 56 nurses including 11 Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and 45 Registered Nurses (RNs) voted to join MNA.
“We pour everything we have into saving lives—each day Hazelden nurses care for patients going through dangerous withdrawal from substances, while meeting their medical and psychiatric needs”, said Jody Burton, LPN at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. “Nurses are experiencing unsafe working conditions, no real progress at the bargaining table and have gone two years without a raise. We are standing tall, demanding the results that patients, nurses and our community needs.”
Currently, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation has no on-site security guards. Nurses say they have raised these concerns when threats or incidents happen on campus.
“This is about Hazelden nurses having a seat at the table to advocate for patients facing some of their worst days. The healthcare system is broken—treating addiction recovery like a corporate enterprise rather than a place of healing. Burnout, lack of safety measures and cuts to benefits are forcing nurses to leave the bedside as patient numbers and acuity grow locally,” said Anne Coleman, RN at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. “Nurses need hospital leaders to prioritize frontline staff who make recovery possible rather than corporate gain.”
Hazelden nurses will continue using their collective voice to advocate for patient safety and improved working conditions that retain skilled nurses in the community.
Today’s informational picket was not a work stoppage.
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