Dean nurses have been inspired by the momentum of St. Mary’s nurses’ historic union election victory and the wave of thousands of other healthcare professionals forming unions across the nation

Madison, Wisc. – 380 nurses at SSM Health Dean Medical Group in Dane County have gotten their union election dates to win a strong voice for their patients and profession. The nurses will be voting at 10 outpatient clinics September from 22 to 25. They filed their petition for an election with the National Labor Relations Board on August 10. Dean nurses have been inspired by the momentum of SSM St. Mary’s Hospital nurses’ landslide victory, the largest private sector union election in recent state history, along with a wave of thousands of healthcare professionals forming unions across the country. Dean nurses say they want to unite with the surging movement of union nurses at St. Mary’s, Meriter and UW Health to raise patient care standards throughout the region.  

“As nurses, we are our patients’ last line of defense – we take that oath very seriously, and that’s why we’re forming our union, to advocate for them,” said Kat Doebler, who has been a nurse for almost 25 years and works in the SSM Health Outpatient Surgery Center. “In my entire nursing career, I have never seen such an extreme focus by executives on making huge profits while making nurses feel like we have to rush through cases as fast as possible. The SSM executives in St. Louis don’t seem to know or care about what’s going on in our clinics locally. As a result, we have dedicated, amazing nurses who regularly become exhausted and burned out and leave our clinics. We’ve tried to individually raise our concerns and suggest solutions for years but SSM has ignored us. As a union, we’ll be empowered to speak with a united voice to raise standards for our patients and profession throughout the Dean clinics, so they can’t ignore us any longer.”

Dean nurses work in outpatient clinics for cancer treatment, urgent care, family medicine, surgery, gastrointestinal care, and other essential services. They say they are struggling with serious problems around short staffing, burnout, unfair compensation and policies that do not support and retain staff, among other concerns. This latest election petition is part of a nationwide tidal wave of unionizing by nurses, doctors and other medical professionals – in response to the increasing corporatization of the healthcare industry – who want a seat at the decision-making table. 

Multiple clinical studies confirm that adequate nurse staffing levels are absolutely critical for patient safety and quality of care. But healthcare corporations too often prioritize expansion, branding and executive compensation over the needs of patients, nurses say.

On July 22, the National Labor Relations Board regional office overruled the objections of SSM and certified the union election for almost 900 nurses at St. Mary’s hospital. Nurses voted by 89% to form their union in June, but SSM is violating federal labor law by refusing to begin the negotiating process. Both St. Mary’s and Dean Medical Group nurses are calling on SSM to respect their freedom to have a union, stop any further anti-union activity, and work collaboratively with them on solutions for their urgent concerns. Nurses say they want to build a relationship with SSM based on mutual respect, open communication and cooperation toward shared goals. 

Unfortunately, instead of engaging with nurses to solve problems, SSM has been spending resources on corporate lawyers to file objections to St. Mary’s nurses’ election with the National Labor Relations Board, and running an ongoing pressure campaign inside both the hospital and clinics. SSM’s tactics have included threatening nurses with disciplinary action for union activity, spreading misleading propaganda, and destroying and confiscating their union materials. These scare tactics waste resources, distract from patient care and cause further anxiety for the already-overburdened nursing workforce. Nurses and community members say that the conduct of SSM, which is based in St. Louis, violates local Madison and Wisconsin values, as well as Catholic social teaching. 

While St. Mary’s and Dean nurses have been struggling, SSM had $12.6 billion in operating revenue, $1.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and $483 million in profits last year, and SSM’s CEO had $7.8 million in compensation in 2024. Nurses say SSM has both the resources and the moral responsibility to address their concerns and ensure St. Mary’s Hospital and Dean clinics are the healthcare providers and employers of choice. 

Throughout their efforts, St. Mary’s and Dean nurses have been strongly supported by union nurses at UW Health and Meriter. Meriter nurses have been able to negotiate a strong union contract with a voice in staffing, a pay scale that rewards years of experience, fair scheduling, better paid time off, and other supportive policies. Now, both St. Mary’s and Dean nurses are looking forward to continuing to build their movement of healthcare professionals, and are planning a series of public actions in coming weeks to advocate for their patients and community.