To the Editors:

My name is Derek Chaffins, and I am a registered nurse at Mercy Health – Allen Hospital in Oberlin. I am writing to you as one of three nurses on the negotiating committee for our union, representing the dedicated healthcare workers who have served this community tirelessly — especially during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we need your help to shine a light on an injustice and to urge community support for our cause.

In our recent contract negotiations with Mercy Allen Hospital, 94 percent of our nurses rejected the company’s insulting proposals. After years of being hailed as heroes for risking our lives during Covid, the hospital has offered us a mere 1 percent raise. This comes after years of paltry 2 percent raises from 2021 to 2024 — raises that fail to keep pace with inflation, which has soared over 20 percent since 2021 alone. Meanwhile, the CEO’s compensation has ballooned from $3 million in 2018 to $12 million in 2022. This stark contrast reveals a profound lack of empathy for the nurses who are the backbone of this hospital.

To add insult to injury, the company refuses to provide us with any sick time. As nurses, we care for the sick and vulnerable every day, often at great personal risk, yet we are denied the basic dignity of time to recover when we ourselves fall ill. During Covid, we worked grueling shifts, faced staffing shortages, and put our families’ safety on the line. Now, as costs rise and our wages stagnate, we are struggling to make ends meet while hospital leadership enjoys lavish pay increases.

We are not asking for luxuries — we are asking for fairness. Inflation has eroded our purchasing power, and the hospital’s refusal to offer a living wage or basic benefits like sick time undermines our ability to continue serving this community effectively. We fear that, without fair compensation and support, Mercy Allen risks losing experienced nurses, which will harm patient care in Oberlin.

I urge you to use your platform to raise awareness about our fight. The community deserves to know how its “Covid heroes” are being treated — and how the hospital prioritizes executive profits over patient care. We would be grateful for your support, whether through coverage in your publication, a public statement, or by joining us in calling on Mercy Allen Hospital to negotiate a contract that reflects the value of its nurses.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I am happy to provide more information or connect you with other nurses on our team to share their stories. Together, we can ensure that Oberlin’s healthcare workers are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Sincerely,

Derek Chaffins, Registered Nurse Mercy Allen Hospital