UFCW Member Stories: Juan Stout, Providence Everett Nurse & Activist
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Juan Stout
Juan Stout has been a nurse for 15 years and has worked all of them at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (PRMCE) at the Colby location. As of this writing, November 6, 2023, PRMCE registered nurses are on the 3rd day of a 10-day countdown to an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. At 6 a.m. on November 14th, nurses will form picket lines at both the Colby and Pacific Avenue campuses of PRMCE to begin their 5-day strike.
Juan has served on four union negotiating committees, including this one. The central issue in these PRMCE contract negotiations is the staffing crisis that began during the pandemic and has worsened since then. Nurses in some departments at the hospital are working under a nearly impossible patient ratio of 6 or 8 patients to just 1 nurse. Juan and the bargaining committee have shown management at Providence that this is unsustainable and has to change.
“Patients and their families have come to us about the quality of care eroding at Prov Everett. This is a problem that must be fixed! But Providence Everett refuses to invest in a contract that will help recruit and retain nurses and other core staff .”
Juan and his coworkers know that this fight affects everyone who lives in and around Everett. They are asking for everyone’s support during the upcoming ULP strike, which unfortunately seems inevitable because Providence has refused to bargain during the 10-day waiting period. Juan and the other PRMCE nurses are prepared and ready to fight for patient safety, and they need our help. You can pledge your support online at our community support page. Juan also asks people to “reach out to hospital management and share their frustration with the poor staffing and sub-standard care they received.”
Juan comes from a family that has always been leaders in their community. He grew up in Lexington Kentucky where Juan’s father was the first African American to head a high school sports athletic association. Juan recently traveled back to Kentucky to accept a posthumous award on behalf of his father when he was inducted into the Lexington African American Hall of Fame.
Juan moved from Lexington when he was 24 to South Carolina and was a teacher for 15 years. Eventually, Juan went back to school to get his nursing degree. He has been a shop steward for 12 years and serves on the UFCW 3000 Executive Board. He loves educating his coworkers about their rights under the union contract and getting them to take action to improve their working conditions and the care that patients receive. He also has his own photography business on the side, “a wonderful hobby that has become a side hustle.”
He continues to educate and organize his coworkers for the strike and whatever it takes to get a fair contract and a better Providence Regional Medical Center for everyone.
