Nurses at Albany Medical Center are speaking out over what they said were unsafe staffing levels leading to patients left uncared for by staff.

The speak-out held Tuesday came as nurses were renegotiating a contract with Albany Med that was set to expire next week. Some said they were not optimistic about a deal.

Speakers Tuesday called for the public and elected leaders to put pressure on the hospital to address staffing. They gathered at the New York State Nurses Association office in Albany.

One speaker, Jennifer Kiehle, is a veteran neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse. She said Albany Med is the only place in the region where she can provide such specialized care to babies.

“In a NICU in New York State, by law, you can only have two patients an assignment. We regularly have three, four, there’s even one night a nurse had five patients assigned to them in our NICU. When we are the short staffed, when I have three critically ill babies, I can’t take care of them like we should be able to,” Kiehle said, getting emotional.

“Patients sit unfed if they can’t feed themselves, uncleaned if they can’t clean themselves. Medications are missed. It’s just awful,” she said, saying the problem spans across the hospital.

Albany Med and St. Peter’s Hospital made headlines for some of the longest emergency room wait times in New York State last year. One nurse said she goes to sleep thinking about the patients they cannot help.

The nurses’ association presented stories and data claiming Albany Med regularly violates staffing laws and connecting that data to negative patient outcomes.

“The New York State staffing law is in effect. I am on the staffing committee at Albany Med. We just submitted our plan for staffing, and we are not following the plan,” said Nurse Jaimie Alaxanian.

Speakers demanded to know how the hospital is addressing nurses quitting.   

A spokesperson for Albany Med told NewsChannel 13 in part that “recruitment and retention are top priorities for us.” The hospital said, “Since 2023, we’ve hired more than 500 new nurses. We staff safely to state standards.”  

But the union countered that— and said its data shows more than 400 nurses have exited over 2023 and 2024.

Speakers want the New York State Department of Health to release its findings on the hospital, after it investigated staffing there in June.  

“It’s outrageous that the Department of Health has been sitting on this for seven weeks. […] Release the report. Release the report. It’s the right of the public to know,” said Mark Emanatian, Executive Director of the Capital District Area Labor Federation.

Read Albany Medical Center’s full statement:

“We continue to negotiate in good faith.

Recruitment and retention are top priorities for us, and we’ve invested heavily in salaries, benefits, professional development, and wellness programs. Pathways are available for new graduates and traveling nurses to join our team full time. Since 2023, we’ve hired more than 500 new nurses.

We staff safely to state standards. To that end, earlier this month we submitted our staffing plan for all clinical units for 2025 to the state Department of Health. The plan came together through and was unanimously approved by Albany Med’s clinical staffing committee of leadership, nurses, including NYSNA members, and other clinical support staff who best understand how our units operate and what our patients need. We’re proud to have reached this agreement outside of the union negotiations and are proud of the life-changing, lifesaving care we provide every day.”