With a new contract in place, union nurses are scheduled to return to work Sunday at the Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

The first shift begins 7 a.m. Sunday, according to Gidget Ruscetta, Kapi‘olani’s Chief Operating Officer, and nurses on following shifts will be phased in until roughly 600 nurses that have been locked out since Sept. 14 are back to work.

“We are pleased our nurses voted to ratify the agreement and can now benefit from this new contract,” said Ruscetta at a press conference today. “This contract reflects more than a year’s worth of collaboration, hard work and commitment. I want to thank our negotiating team which is primarily made up of nurse leaders for their dedication to getting this deal done.”

A whopping majority, 98%, of nurses represented by the Hawaii Nurses’ Association voted in favor of ratifying the new, three-year contract by the 6 p.m. deadline on Wednesday.

According to Kapi‘olani, the new agreement includes:

>> Across-the-board raises that average out to 3.5% annually over nearly four years.

>> Longevity pay increases for registered nurses who have five, 10 and 15 years of experience at Kapi‘olani.

>> A staffing matrix which includes flexible staffing levels based on guidelines aligned with the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, American Nurses Association, American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, and Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses.

>> A staffing council made up of Kapi‘olani nurses and nurse leaders that will meet monthly to address staffing issues and review the staffing matrix annually.

In addition, Kapi‘olani said it would use an innovative tool to determine scheduling needs for each unit and remain committed to ongoing nurse recruitment and retention programs.

HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu heralded it as “a new day for health care in Hawaii.”

“We persevered and were able to put care back into health care,” she said in a news release today. “The nurses and others in the community advocated for putting safety and wellbeing of patients above profits. Families will now be able to confidently seek care at Kapi‘olani knowing their keiki and other loved ones are in good hands again.”

She thanked families, community leaders, elected government officials, fellow nurses from other hospitals, and union brothers and sisters from HGEA, ILWU, Local 5, Teamsters, and UHPA for their support for patient safety. She also thanked Gov. Josh Green for suggesting the nurses and hospital management work with a federal mediator, saying it was a “good call.”

“The federal mediators got a front row view of what the nurses had been experiencing in negotiations,” she said, “and we appreciate their help in keeping the negotiations fair.”

HNA said nurses were willing to return to work sooner than Sunday, but Ruscetta said another three days was needed to coordinate their return in order to make a seamless transition.

“We know this has been very emotional,” said Ruscetta. “We know we are going to be on a journey of coming together to care for our patients. It’s a journey of healing, and we are committed to moving forward with our nurses, we are committed to moving forward with the entire care team, and we will continue that process ongoing.”