Internal disaster declaration, incident command activation

Dear UI Health—

We continue negotiations with the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) and remain hopeful that we will soon reach a mutually acceptable agreement. Negotiation sessions with the INA are confirmed for the following dates:

• Friday, Nov. 8
• Tuesday, Nov. 12
• Wednesday, Nov. 13
• Monday, Nov. 18
• Wednesday, Nov. 20

Patient care is our primary responsibility. Our focus is maintaining the highest level of safety and care for our patients while ensuring the efficiency of our facilities and operations as we anticipate a potential work stoppage

Effective today — Friday, Nov. 8, at 7 a.m. — we declared an Internal Disaster and have activated Incident Command to manage our care delivery operations in anticipation of a potential work stoppage beginning Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7 a.m. The Incident Command team will ensure that we can continue to safely serve our patients and strongly support our staff as we anticipate a work stoppage.

UI Health values the critical role our nurses and other healthcare professionals play in fulfilling our mission and providing our patients with exceptional care, outcomes, and experiences.

We have in place comprehensive plans to anticipate, respond to, and mitigate staffing disruptions that may occur over the coming weeks, including a process to secure nursing agency staff, ensuring that in the event of a strike our patients continue to receive the outstanding care they need.

For more information on our negotiations and the potential work stoppage, please visit the UI Health–INA Negotiations intranet tile and the UI Health Workforce site.

Sincerely,

Incident Command Management