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☔Rainy day with highs in the 60s. Sunset is at 8:23 p.m.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses — 4,400 of them — are planning to go on a one-day strike tomorrow as they negotiate a new contract. If it happens, it will be the largest nursing strike in state history.
On the bargaining table are pay increases, health insurance costs and staffing levels. “That is clearly sending a message to the hospital just how vexed the nurses are … that we’re just not going to be put in the positions that we are without being protected, without being paid well and without advocating for ourselves and for our patients,” said Michael Shuley, a Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurse.
The hospital said it would bring in nurses from outside the union to cover the workload of striking nurses. But Shuley said patients might still notice a difference in the care they receive. “They’re going to be replacing basically one nurse for every four nurses, so that really is going to impact the care because I know our hospital is maxed out to capacity,” Shuley told GBH’s Diane Adame.
Four Things to Know
1. The Massachusetts Senate now has its own version of legislation aimed at restricting teenagers’ social media use. But unlike the versions proposed by Gov. Maura Healey and the state House, the Senate proposal would not require every user of platforms like Instagram and TikTok to verify their age.
“Rather than forcing social media companies to find out the age of every single user, they just force social media companies to turn off some of these harmful features like autoplay, infinite scroll and surveillance-driven algorithmic recommendations for all users. And then if you want to go turn them on, you can choose to verify your age,” said Evan Greer, director of the nonprofit Fight for the Future. Greer explains the bill further here.
2. When Jaylen Brown leaves the Celtics for Philadelphia — the team traded him to the 76ers — his absence will be felt both on and off the court. Brown spent 10 years in Boston starting at the age of 19, and launched an initiative called the Boston XChange to fight wealth inequality, the 7uice Foundation to give more opportunities to young people, and a summer program with the MIT Media Lab called Bridge Boston.
He also found time to hang out with kids at Boys and Girls Clubs, said Andrea Swain, chief impact officer. “His security would say, ‘Jaylen’s coming through the back door.’ He would just come in and just spend time with the kids,” Swain said. “‘Where are you, how are you doing in school, what’s going on in your life? Let me show you how to shoot this ball.’ It was very organic.”
3. A group of people ran 50 kilometers from Beverly to Fenway Park on Sunday to raise money for Venezuelans who were injured or lost their homes in two earthquakes last week. The run began with about 10 people and ended with 100. The money they raised is going to the Boston Foundation’s Massachusetts United for Venezuela Fund, which has already raised $100,000. You can see the runners and their supporters in action here.
“They understand that that nation was not devastated only for the earthquake....What kill people are the infrastructure, are all the buildings, and those are decades of building a structure that are not up to standards,” organizer Manuel Rendón said. “That’s what’s been happening in Venezuela for the last three decades.”
4. Tall Ships are pulling into Boston Harbor this week, and Sail Boston events kick off with opening ceremonies Friday. The Parade of Sail will take place on Saturday, and members of the public will be allowed to board ships for a glimpse of life aboard from Saturday evening through Wednesday.
“A ship came in just this morning from Spain, a very beautiful Juan Carlos, a spectacular ship berthed down at Black Falcon,” Dusty Rhodes, Sail Boston’s executive director, told GBH’s Gabriella Berry. “And a state of Maine maritime vessel came in this morning. And in a day or two we’ll have Patriot State come in from Massachusetts Maritime Academy, so the momentum is building.”
The only freestanding birth center in Eastern Mass. just opened in Cambridge
In the early days of the COVID pandemic, the Cambridge Health Alliance closed its birth center — a place that focuses solely on labor and delivery and operates under a midwifery model of care. In the six years since, the number of birth centers in the state had shrunk to just one: Seven Sisters in Northampton.
“Birth centers have not closed down because of quality, or because of consumer concerns. It has been financial,” Kim Amsley-Camp, director of midwifery at the CHA Birth Center, told GBH’s Hannah Reale.
Yesterday the Cambridge Health Alliance reopened its birth center. Part of the idea is to minimize medical interventions. The new center does not offer epidurals, but people in labor can use birthing tubs or sit on different kinds of exercise balls. There are no stirrups. And if there’s any issue during labor, or a patient decides they want an epidural after all, they can go to Cambridge Hospital next door.
“You’re not missing any of the safety, but families have a lot more say in what’s happening,” Amsley-Camp said. “That makes a big difference.”
Dig deeper:
-Most people getting abortion services in Massachusetts don’t live here
-Hundreds of moms have given birth with doulas months into MassHealth’s new program
-Fewer au pairs are coming to the U.S. Some blame immigration policy.
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