Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children officials said they will extend medical benefits to unionized nurses who have been locked out from the hospital since Sept. 14 as the two sides continue to try to hash out a new contract.

The locked-out nurses had been expected to lose their health benefits on Oct. 1 if a deal wasn’t reached.

“We have agreed to extend medical, dental and vision benefits for our nurses after Sept. 30 based on the Hawaii Nurses’ Association’s acceptance today of the terms Kapi‘olani outlined in our letter to the governor,” Gidget Ruscetta, Kap’olani’s chief operating officer, said in a statement Saturday night.

Gov. Josh Green and state Attorney General Anne Lopez on Tuesday asked Kap’olani management and the nurses union to agree to federal mediation in their negotiations, which started in September 2023.

Green had asked the hospital to extend healthcare benefits to the locked-out nurses in a show of good-faith, and he asked the union to not interrupt hospital services. On Monday, 10 supporters of the nurses were arrested for allegedly blocking buses carrying replacement nurses from entering the hospital’s property.

Kapi‘olani management agreed to the governor’s request but said HNA must agree to not disrupt hospital services.

On Saturday, HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu issued a statement, saying, “The 600 nurses represented by Hawai‘i Nurses’ Association are committed to doing their part to reach an agreement and have agreed to: Use a federal mediator to ensure the negotiations are ongoing and productive; Continue to bargain in good faith; and Continue peaceful negotiations and not to disrupt access and services to the hospital for employees, temporary workers, vendors and visitors.”

A federal mediator joined the contract negotiations on Thursday.