UPPER CHICHESTER — After a grueling 18-hour negotiation session that wrapped at 3 a.m. Tuesday, registered nurses at Crozer-Chester Medical Center ratified a three-year contract with average annual pay increases of 4 percent.

“We are very happy with the new contract,” said Bobbi McClay, R.N. and president of the local nurses union. “The contract, including the improved staffing, will benefit patients and nurses alike.”

The contract was approved 501-63 by members of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association, which had threatened to carry out a three-day strike in the absence of an agreement.

The rolling vote was held Tuesday at the IBEW union hall on Chichester Avenue.

The new deal requires nurses to cover 12 percent of their health-care premiums by the end of the contract — up from 9 percent — and introduces co-pays of $5 for employees, $10 for dependents and $25 for emergency room visits.

“We are pleased that the registered nurses of CCMC have ratified their new contract,” said Crozer-Keystone Health System Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations Kathy Scullin. “Our nursing staff is an essential part of our patient-care team and we believe that this contract is good for our nurses and the hospital.”

Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, said the escalating cost of health care made the negotiations all the more difficult.

“Despite that, we were able to reach a very fair agreement that maintains reasonable cost-share for Crozer nurses,” he said.

Shop steward Frank Glatts III of Aston claimed both sides got what they needed in the pact, which covers 810 CCNA members.

“We were not out to kill Crozer,” said Glatts, a home-care nurse. “We’ve still got to work somewhere. All we asked was to be treated fairly and with respect. We’re not here to fleece them.”

In addition to getting employees to cover more of their health-care costs, Crozer-Keystone also scaled back a benefit that gave nurses a cash payment at retirement for up to 90 sick days.

Under the new agreement, employees may cash out no more than 30 days.

While the union did not get the nurse-to-patient ratios they were seeking — California is the only state that requires them by law — Crozer-Keystone agreed to staff 35 new positions throughout the hospital.

“Staffing problems have been a serious issue on my floor,” said Amy Cullinan, R.N., maternity-floor nurse. “With more patients relying on hospitals for basic care at the same time that many patients are entering these doors in worse conditions, there has been a real need for more nurses.

“I’m ecstatic that we won so many new nursing positions — they will definitely help improve patient care at this hospital.”

Two new steps were added to the CCNA pay scale, in years 17 and 24, and the starting wage for new nursing graduates will be hiked to $29.56 per hour. Top-of-scale pay for nurses with 28 years was also bumped to $50.62 per hour.

“We will be the first nurses in the state of Pennsylvania ever to make $50 per hour and we will also have one of the highest salaries out there for graduating nurses,” said Glatts, who earned $15 an hour when he started his nursing career in 1991.

Cruice said the salary increases are well-deserved.

“We believe the wage increases are commensurate with the vital contributions the Crozer nurses make to the health of the community,” he said.

A tentative agreement was reached after a marathon negotiation session at the Concordville Inn that started 9 a.m. Monday and lasted until 3 a.m. Tuesday.

“That’s when it all came together,” said PASNAP spokeswoman Kathleen Casey. “It’s not always the case, but this was a real fight — a serious fight that went down to the final hours.”