After months of negotiations and a recent strike notice, the union representing its nurses have ratified a new contract with Warren General Hospital.

A vote on ratification by the full local membership of PASNAP (Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals) took place on Wednesday. The union said in a statement that the contract was “overwhelmingly ratified.”

“The contract we negotiated is a step in the right direction for our patients’ well being,” Charlene Fohrd, a maternity nurse and co-president of the Warren General Hospital Professional Employees Association, the local PASNAP chapter, said.

” The Administration of the Hospital is pleased with the contract ratified today and how it confirms our practice of staffing nurses,” Joe Akif, the hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer said Wednesday. “In our new contract we confirm in writing our staffing practices that have been in place for several years. It is noteworthy that Administration and the PASNAP union have agreed to an appropriate approach to staffing nurses.”

According to a statement from PASNAP, the contract “strengthens staffing at Warren General by requiring the hospital to take measures to address short staffing on a unit due (to) increased patient acuity and increased census, among other reasons.”

See Thursday’s Times Observer for a full story