NYC Nurses Strike Could End at Two of Three Hospitals After Tentative Deals
In positive health news, tentative agreements have been reached as of February 9, 2026, that could end the nurses’ strike at two major hospital systems in New York City.
WABC-TV (ABC7NY) reported that roughly 10,500 members of the New York State Nurses Association at Montefiore Medical Center and the Mount Sinai Health System reached tentative deals that keep staffing rules, protect health benefits, add workplace violence protections, put limits on AI, and deliver pay raises of more than 12% over three years.
Regarding Montefiore’s package, it includes promises aimed straight at ratios and wait times, including new nursing positions and lower nurse-to-patient ratios in several areas, plus a first-time staffing standard in an outpatient unit. This is based on Gothamist’s breakdown of what the union shared.
Voting on the agreements is set to start right away.
However, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the story stayed unsettled. Reports from the Associated Press state that nurses there have said staffing and job security remained top sticking points in any agreement, with one nurse describing an emergency department load that can hit roughly 300 patients at a time.
I keep thinking about how long this has dragged on, with nurses out in rough winter weather while patients still needed care. Gothamist noted this was the longest and largest nursing strike in city history, and that matters because it raises the stakes for every hospital negotiation that comes next.
What changes for patients?
During this stand-off, canceled surgeries, transferred patients, and a lot of uncertainty became part of the backdrop.
AP reported that hospitals said operations were running smoothly with replacement staff, even as nurses argued understaffing was the core risk and the reason they walked out in the first place during what was a very hard flu season in New York.
As Reuters reported, the state of emergency tied to staffing coverage may come to an end, with expectations that if contracts are ratified, nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore could return to work as early as Saturday, February 14.
Hopefully, the vote turns out positive, and nurses at two of the three striking hospitals in New York City are back to work this week.
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