LIHUE, Hawaii (KHON2) — Wilcox Medical Center, the largest medical center on Kauai, nurses are voting to authorize a strike to protest unfair labor practices.
Hawaiʻi Nurses Association has been in negotiations with Wilcox Medical Center since May and their contracts expired in August.
“We believe Hawaiʻi Pacific Health should bargain in good faith over whether to extend the same support to its Wilcox Medical Center nurses to ensure Kauai residents have access to quality care,” said Quyen Rockwell, a Wilcox nurse of 16 years.
The nursing team, which consists of 159 members, will be voting to authorize the strike until Jan. 1 at 8 p.m.
“We hope fairness will prevail because unlike those in Honolulu, patients on Kauai have fewer options when they need care,” said Rosalee Agas-Yuu, HNA president. “They don’t have the luxury of choosing to go to another hospital. Our goal is to avoid disruptions in care for Kauai’s patients.”
Nurses are concerned about staffing ratios and management’s bargaining practices, among other issues, said Dianna Rodriguez, a Wilcox RN of six years.
This strike authorization vote comes shortly after Kapiʻolani Medical Center’s 600 nurses won a three-year contract after a year of negotiations, two strikes and an 18-day lockout. Their contract took effect in October, and will expire in Oct. 2027.
Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu is the sister hospital of Wilcox Medical Center.
KHON2 reached out to Hawaiʻi Pacific Health for comment, and has not yet gotten a response.