Campaign Journal: Health-care union backs Whitehouse
2006-09-28
Source: Providence Journal
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rss feedDemocratic U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse won the endorsement yesterday of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, a regional union representing about 4,500 nurses and other health-care employees in Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut.
Union president Linda McDonald praised Whitehouse for his support of changes in the health-care system that are supported by nurses, including the establishment of nurse-to-patient ratios in acute care settings and restricting mandatory overtime for nurses.
"We all share the goal of making health insurance available to every American, and as nurses and health professionals, we have a unique perspective on the enormous waste and inefficiency in today's health-care system that get in the way of expanding coverage," said McDonald at a news conference at UNAP offices in Providence.
Whitehouse met with seven union members and officials yesterday at UNAP offices and said he appreciated the endorsement. "Nurses are still the most trusted professionals in America," he said.
Whitehouse said he hoped to bring some of the nurses' ideas to Washington if he is elected. He also pledged to work toward a system of universal health-care coverage "for all Americans and their families."
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