Rochester, Mich.-- Henry Ford Rochester Hospital is open to the community during the strike by OPEIU Local 40, with a plan in place to ensure the safe, high-quality care patients deserve. We will update this page with new information as necessary. 

The following statement addresses claims about patient safety, staffing ratios, and strike statutes. 

Henry Ford Health’s greatest priority is and always will be the wellbeing of our patients, team members and the community.  Henry Ford Rochester Hospital has a process in place to ensure our units are staffed in a way that provides the safe, high-quality care patients deserve. We deeply respect our nurses’ unique, professional expertise and include nurse leadership in any staffing decisions. Mandatory staffing ratios, like the one the union is proposing, hinder our ability to continuously adjust staffing based on patient need.

Henry Ford Health complies with all applicable federal labor strike laws, which take precedence over state statutes.  We respect our employees’ right to strike; at the same time, it’s crucial for us to engage contracted nursing staff during the strike to ensure there is no disruption to patient care or hospital operations.

We would have preferred to have our Henry Ford Rochester Hospital nurses working in our hospital, but the striking nurses were unwilling to provide us with any assurances they would provide care for our patients. As a result, we were forced to make difficult decisions about staffing and needed to make patient care our priority. We look forward to welcoming them back to work.

Henry Ford Health Statement | June 6, 2025

Henry Ford Rochester Hospital will remain open to the community. We have a plan in place to ensure the highest standard of care and safety for our patients and team members. We believe strongly that the offer we’ve made to our nurses is a fair, competitive, and thoughtful investment in our future together.  

Consistent with our commitment to nurses across our health system, our offer includes competitive wages and benefits, while ensuring safe staffing and a sustainable financial future for our hospital.

We remain grateful for our talented nurses and the care and compassion they bring to our patients and our organization every day, and we are steadfast in our commitment to a culture that values their unique, professional expertise. We look forward to welcoming those who have chosen to strike back to work.

Facts about the OPEIU strike at Henry Ford Rochester Hospital:

• Henry Ford Rochester Hospital remains open to the community. With the help of an outside staffing agency, we have a plan in place to properly staff our units and ensure the highest standard of care and safety for our patients and team members.

• There are approximately 350 registered nurses on our team at Henry Ford Rochester Hospital. On May 29, their union notified us that they plan to strike beginning Monday, June 9.  We are giving every Henry Ford Rochester nurse the option to work during the strike and receive their full pay. We are not “locking out” striking nurses.

• The offer on the table reflects our commitment to nurses across our health system and our respect for their unique, professional experience. Our offer includes competitive wages and benefits, while ensuring safe staffing and a sustainable financial future for our hospital. We believe strongly that the offer we’ve made to our nurses is a fair, competitive, and thoughtful investment in our future together.

• We’re committed to safe nurse staffing models that provide the best quality of care for our patients and our communities. We staff our hospitals based on patient volumes and other factors. Mandated staffing ratios hinder our ability to adapt to varying patient conditions. 

• We have negotiated with union representatives in good faith since the Rochester hospital became part of Henry Ford Health on Oct. 1, 2024. Since we received the strike notice from the union on May 29, we’ve communicated several things to our nursing community including reinforcing nurses’ rights to choose whether to participate in the strike and requesting they notify us of their intent so we can continue to care for our patients without disruption during the strike period. Additionally, we continue to communicate transparently – fully disclosing the details of our last, best, final offer so team members can make an informed decision. 

• To our knowledge there has never been a been a strike in Henry Ford Health’s 110-year history.  We’ve historically enjoyed positive and productive relationships with a small number of unions. We are deeply committed to fostering direct relationships with our team members. At the same time, we are proud of the positive relationships we’ve built with our union colleagues for many years and continue to recognize the role they play. 

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MEDIA INQUIRIES: mediarelations@hfhs.org