MetroHealth nurses and union representatives told the Cuyahoga County Council on Dec. 9 that repeated assaults and staffing shortfalls at the MetroHealth Behavioral Health Hospital have left both staff and patients at risk and urged county officials to press the hospital's board to negotiate stronger safety protections.

At public comment, Patricia Kane, a Metro bedside nurse and president of her bargaining unit, said the hospital has lost roughly 45% of its nursing staff in three years and that workers have experienced "broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, bloody lips" and other injuries on the job. "We're being assaulted while we're trying to provide care for our community's most vulnerable," Kane said, adding that nurses voted 95% in favor of unionization.

Jeff Bettinger, identified in the record as vice president of the nurses union, described multiple assaults on colleagues and urged council to support the creation of a dedicated acute unit for violent or aggressively violent patients with increased staff and a 24/7 Metro police presence. "This would allow the nonviolent patients to heal and make the likelihood of assaults on staff greatly reduced," Bettinger said.

Speakers and union representatives asked the council to use its convening power to press MetroHealth for "evidence-based protocols, safe staffing" and stronger protections that would separate violent patients from nonviolent populations. Anna Pawaski, a resident who said family members rely on behavioral health care, urged the council to "pressure the Metro Health Board to bargain in good faith" and to ensure a fair first contract for newly organized nurses.

The council's fiscal debate later that evening included an explicit restoration of MetroHealth subsidy levels. In remarks recorded during the biennial budget discussion, Council leaders noted a council amendment restoring the MetroHealth subsidy to the current $35,000,000 per year over the biennium, citing concern about the hospital's financial stability and its role as a clinical anchor for county residents.

The nurses' requests were primarily appeals for negotiated changes at MetroHealth and for county pressure on the hospital board. Council members did not adopt a separate, stand-alone resolution on MetroHealth staffing at the meeting; instead, council members incorporated restoration of the subsidy into the adopted 2026'027 biennial budget, where the council emphasized the desire to "strengthen Metro's capacity to withstand these challenges." The council also accepted and adopted several labor and community-service contracts that the speakers said intersect with staffing and service issues.

The next procedural step is continued negotiation between MetroHealth management and the union; councilmembers who spoke about the hospital emphasized oversight and continued monitoring through committee work. The public record shows strong worker testimony and a specific list of asks from nurses: separate an acute unit for violent patients, increase staff-to-patient ratios, add patient-support advocates, and ensure MetroHealth bargains in good faith on workplace safety and staffing.