Mount Nittany Medical Center, Union Reach Tentative Agreement for New Contract

Mount Nittany Medical Center and the union representing about 950 of its workers tentatively agreed on terms of a new contract that would bring to an end more than four months of often tense negotiations.

Hospital workers represented by SEIU Healthcare PA are scheduled to vote on ratifying the new deal on Monday.

While both sides confirmed the tentative agreement on Thursday night, neither disclosed terms. Fawn Guignet, an emergency department registered nurse, said the proposed contract “makes key improvements in safety and benefits.”

“We want to truly thank the whole community for their constant support – it’s what helped us push Mount Nittany as much as we could to invest in all workers who make this hospital run,” Guignet said. “Throughout this negotiation process, it was important that we make it clear to Mount Nittany leadership that securing a future for the hospital must include an investment in the workforce so we can continue prioritizing our patients’ care.”

Since negotiations began on April 29, Mount Nittany workers have been seeking across-the-board wage increases they say will keep pace with inflation and the rising cost of living in Centre County, as well as new workplace safety investments.

The union’s previous three-year deal expired on June 30, and as the two sides remained at loggerheads over wage issues, workers went on a five-day strike in late July that cost the medical center $6.4 million for temporary staffing. It was the hospital’s first strike since 2004.

When they returned to the bargaining table in early August, workers said they were “deeply disappointed” by Mount Nittany executives’ offer of 2% wage increases for each of the next three years, down from the 3% in the first year and 2% each of the following two years previously proposed and rejected by the union.

A hospital spokesperson said at the time that the lower wage increase proposal came after the health system finalized its financial results for the 2025-26 fiscal year that ended June 30 and recorded its first operating loss in more than a decade. Mount Nittany officials also continued to evaluate the impact of losing the Sole Community Hospital designation, which a lawsuit against the federal government said will cost the medical center millions in higher Medicare reimbursements, and other “ongoing reimbursement pressures and increased expenses, including the cost of the five-day strike.”

Negotiations resumed on Sept. 3 with Mount Nittany offering wage increases of 2.5% in the first year and 2% each of the following two years — short of the 4.5%, 4%, and 3% proposed by the union — which workers say was down from prior demands in order to address the hospital’s operating deficit and other fiscal concerns.

Union members also proposed with a 2.5% raise only if Mount Nittany wins its lawsuit against the federal government over its loss of Sole Community Hospital status, which accounts for about $9 million in additional Medicare reimbursements. Mount Nittany countered with a $500 bonus per worker pending the Sole Community Hospital designation funding.

Workers have said Mount Nittany has the ability to meet wage demands, pointing to its healthy balance sheet and significant facility investments. Most recently, they financial disclosure that showed $96 million in operational revenue exceeding expenses for fiscal year 2025-26 — which they said is a margin five times larger than Penn Highlands Health and UPMC — as evidence of the medical center’s financial health.

A Mount Nittany spokesperson said the union was conflating operating performance — which reflects the revenue and expenses associated with providing healthcare services — with total financial results that can also include investment performance and other nonoperating activity.

The tentative agreement for a new contract came after 15 negotiating sessions.