UPLAND — Nurses from Crozer-Chester Medical Center plan to picket and hold a rally outside of the hospital this afternoon to support proposed nurse-to-patient-ratio legislation and protest the use of “agency” nurses at the hospital.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, and state Rep. Tim Solobay, D-48, of Washington County, recently introduced separate bills in the Senate and House requiring minimum nurse-to-patient ratios by unit and increased staffing based on need.

The version drafted by Leach would also provide “whistleblower” protection to health-care workers who speak out about unsafe patient-care conditions.

Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, said acceptable nurse-to-patient ratios vary by unit and the severity of the patients’ illnesses or injuries.

“Too often across hospitals in Pennsylvania, medical-surgical nurses end up with more than five patients. All data, all research, says that shouldn’t happen,” said Cruice.

Cruice said the rally would also call on Crozer to recall some of the nurses who took voluntary layoffs, specifically in the cardiovascular unit, the shock trauma unit and on the IV team.

“Not too long after nurses took voluntary layoffs and severance, the inevitable occurred, and that is that volume returns to normal, but now there’s not enough nurses in some units in particular,” said Cruice. “Crozer is now forced to pay about $80 an hour or more for so-called agency nurses to fill the gaps, which we think is a complete squandering of precious resources for a hospital that claims that they’re struggling financially.”

The picketing and rally will be held today across from the hospital from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., with speakers beginning at noon.