Last year the city’s public hospital system spent $549 million on temporary nurses to plug roughly 2,000 vacancies across its facilities, a hospital executive revealed during the City Council’s Tuesday hearing on hospitals.
Dr. Mitchell Katz, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, disclosed the figure during the May 16 meeting of the Council’s Committee on Hospitals. His testimony comes as the New York State Nurses Association, which represents the city’s public nurses, has been pushing the city for a raise after its contract expired in March.
