UPDATE: Nurses union leader comments on hospital investigation

UPDATE: Wednesday, September 27th, 2017 2:00 p.m. ET

Scott Balko, RN and President of the UPHS Marquette RN Staff, issued the following statement about the state’s recent investigation of UPHS Marquette:

“We are glad that the state has decided to investigate our concerns, and look forward to hearing their findings. We’d be curious to know if this was an unannounced investigation, or if the hospital was given advance notice.”

MARQUETTE — Last month, nurses at UP Health System – Marquette filed a report with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, citing over 780 incidents of unsafe patient care at the hospital this year.

Their complaint was turned over to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to review. Officials with LARA tell ABC 10 surveyors on behalf of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) conducted a two-day onsite inspection of the hospital September 19th and 20th.

LARA is in the process of finalizing their inspection report. Once CMS reviews it, hospital officials and the MI Nurses Association will be notified about the results, which will then be released to the public.

Nurses at the hospital are planning to strike October 5th and 6th. They’ve been working without a contract since late July.

The strike is in relation to what the nurses union is calling unsafe staffing levels at the hospital.