The nurses at the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children voted to ratify a three-year agreement, ending six months of negotiations.

The nurses voted electronically over a two-day period that ended at midnight Thursday. A majority of the nurses voted in favor of the agreement to avert a strike.

The agreement includes the following:

>> Annual scheduled wage increases totaling 7% over the next three years.

>> Improvements to the paid time-off process.

>> Shared costs for health insurance premiums.

Kapiolani also agreed to make improvements in COVID-19 protocols to protect the health of patients and staff.

In a statement today, president Daniel Ross of the Hawaii Nurses’ Association OPEIU Local 50, said, “Throughout the challenging past six months, the nurses have continued to give their all to support the hospital’s patients, but the nurses were willing to walk away from it all to demand a fair and safer work environment.”

“While we hope this is the beginning of a more collaborative working relationship with Kapiolani’s management, we cannot in good conscience celebrate this milestone knowing there are other glaring deficiencies in the hospital,” Ross said, referring to the hospital’s treatment of its respiratory therapists. “We are committed to ensure the hospital extends the same respect to our other healthcare colleagues to raise the standard of care for our patients.”

Kapiolani Medical Center CEO Martha Smith said she was pleased that the nurses ratified the contract.

“Together with the nurses’ union, we were able to reach a fair and sustainable agreement that offers highly competitive wages and benefits, and addresses nurses’ PPE and safety concerns while being mindful of the continued unreliable supply of necessary PPE,” she said. “We are eager to move forward as one team to continue providing safe, quality care for our community.”

Kapiolani is also currently in negotiations with the Hawaii Nurses’ Association on a first-time contract for the medical center’s respiratory therapists.

“Any suggestion that our PPE practices are unsafe is misleading,” Smith said. “In fact, the union has agreed to our PPE and safety measures, as demonstrated by the agreement reached for nurses and recent contract ratification. We know our current PPE practices are effective as we haven’t had any Kapi‘olani employees test positive for COVID-19 due to an exposure from a patient when these practices have been followed.”

She said Kapiolani has rolled out a very successful vaccine distribution effort for all of its health care workers, which has provided all those interested in getting the COVID-19 vaccine with the opportunity to do so.

“When it comes to staffing, we base our staffing levels on patient volumes,” Smith said. “Just as with other hospitals around the country, our patient census numbers have declined during the pandemic, and our staffing levels have fluctuated as a result. We appreciate the work of our respiratory therapists and hope to reach a contract resolution soon.”