UPDATE: 7:30 p.m.

No contract settlement was reached today between the Hawaii Nurses’ Association and Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children following a chaotic morning that saw 10 demonstrators arrested.

Talks wrapped up a little after 7 tonight and the two sides are scheduled to meet again Tuesday for a sixth straight day.

“Disruptions caused by the Hawaii Nurses’ Association and protesters this morning impacted both patients and our scheduled negotiations,” Kapi‘olani Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta said tonight in a statement. “Nurse leaders on our negotiation team needed to prioritize patient care support, so we delayed today’s talks. Once our negotiations resumed, discussions did last until the evening. We mutually agreed to meet again for the sixth straight day, tomorrow.”

EARLIER

Honolulu police this morning arrested 10 demonstrators for alleged obstruction as they called for an immediate end to the lockout of about 600 Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children union nurses.

Those arrested outside the hospital included recently elected state Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto, Democrat candidate for state House Ikaika Hussey, and John Witeck and Sergio Alcubilla of the Hawaii Workers Center.

Officers arrested the 10 for allegedly blocking buses filled with replacement travel nurses from entering the hospital. The arrested demonstrators were seen sitting down and linking arms before the roundabout driveway, blocking entry for two charter buses.

“Multiple individuals who were sitting and blocking the driveway of the Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children this morning have been arrested,” HPD spokesperson Sarah Yoro said in an email. “HPD officers issued several warnings to vacate the driveway before issuing citations for Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 711-1105, Obstructing. Ten individuals who refused to leave were arrested and transported to the Alapai cellblock.”

During a news conference at Kapi‘olani this afternoon, Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta said, “what happened this morning was disruptive and dangerous for our patients, staff, and community.”

“The HNA says nurses want to care for patients but unfortunately their actions today showed otherwise,” said Ruscetta in opening remarks. “With HNA support, protesters blocked access to our medical center for more than two hours. The temporary nurses who are here to care for our patients were not allowed to enter the campus for their shifts. The buses for the temporary nurses tried to turn in to the hospital twice and were unsuccessful both times.”

As a result, she said two expecting mothers were forced to enter via the main exit driveway from further away to check in for their deliveries.

“We know of more than 25 patients who were delayed because they had trouble getting to their appointments,” she said. “Others rescheduled their appointments. The driveway protest also prevented a surgeon from entering. We know of several dozen vehicles that needed to be rerouted to use the exit driveway to reach our campus.”

She said the temporary nurses eventually made it to campus to start their day shifts at 10 a.m., about three hours later than scheduled. The temporary night shift nurses stayed on until the transition could be made.

Today marks the 10th day since Kapi‘olani management has prohibited the union nurses from returning to work until the Hawaii Nurses’ Association unconditionally accepts management’s latest contract offer.

“Our demonstrations are drawing growing attention to this important issue,” HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said in a news release. “Today, we saw community leaders stepping forward to express their concerns about the hospital’s lockout of the nurses and willing to be arrested because of the adverse impact this is having on Hawaii patients and their families. Their peaceful act of peaceful civil disobedience showed their solidarity with the nurses, calling for the hospital to end its lockout of the nurses and to restore quality care for keiki and women.”

Kapi‘olani COO Ruscetta this morning said in a statement, “We respect the right for peaceful protesting, but any demonstration cannot negatively impact patient care. Access to our medical center must remain open for our community. We will rely on the Honolulu Police Department to take appropriate action.”

A large crowd of union nurses and supporters gathered at 6 a.m. in front of Kapi‘olani Medical Center to hold a demonstration against management’s lockout that was to start with a prayer and last three hours.

The nurses, who say they are fighting for safe staffing ratios for patients, chanted, “Scabs Go Home!” and “No Justice, No Peace” as two charter buses eventually proceeded straight down Bingham Street instead of turning into the driveway.

HNA said in a news release that the community members sat down before normal business hours to minimize the impact on patients and that there were travel nurses with patients from the previous shift.

HNA and Kapi‘olani were scheduled to resume talks for a fifth straight day today at 10 a.m. Due to this morning’s events, however, the talks were pushed back to 1:15 p.m. today, Ruscetta said.

Both parties had met for several hours Sunday and had collaborative discussions about staffing, Ruscetta said in an earlier statement