Hospital leaders at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College are negotiating a new three-year contract and proposing a 0% wage increase for union workers, as officials say they’re balancing “long-term sustainability” for the independent health system.
Fawn Guignet works in the emergency department, and is one of the people negotiating on behalf of the hospital’s 950 union workers.
Guignet said hospital leadership with Mount Nittany offered their proposal for the new union contract on Thursday.
“It was a 0% increase for the year 2026, which was pretty shocking,” Guignet said. “We weren’t really expecting that.”
Kelsye Stott-Fleissner is a registered respiratory therapist at Mount Nittany, and the vice president of SEIU’s chapter at the hospital. She said in Mount Nittany’s proposal, union workers would get a 1% raise in 2027, and another 1% raise in 2028.
“Our cost of living raises in the last contract or so have not matched with what the actual cost of living raises are,” Stott-Fleissner said. “You can really see that in terms of the fact that a vast majority of our healthcare workers within the facility don’t actually live in Centre County, because it’s almost too expensive to do so.”
Stott-Fleissner and Guignet said Mount Nittany is also proposing cutting some benefits, including bonuses for longevity and perfect attendance.
In a statement to WPSU, a Mount Nittany spokesperson said they’re focusing on maintaining their long-term sustainability as an independent health system, while also providing fair and competitive pay and benefits.
Negotiations began between SEIU Healthcare and Mount Nittany on April 29, but hospital leaders didn’t present their formal proposal until last Thursday. More bargaining sessions are scheduled over the next two weeks, and the hospital spokesperson said they’ll “continue negotiating in good faith.”
The hospital recently sued the federal government for canceling its status as a “sole community hospital,” saying the decision will cost the hospital millions of dollars.
State leaders are also warning about the impact of upcoming Medicaid cuts and changes from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The union workers’ contract expires on July 1.
