Mount Nittany, workers’ union fail to reach agreement on new labor deal
Mount Nittany Medical Center and the union representing about 950 of its workers failed to agree on a new labor contract by a Tuesday deadline, though negotiations are expected to resume next week.
Registered nurse Jessica Mulroy said in a statement that the two sides made progress Tuesday, but not enough to reach a deal. Service Employees International Union Healthcare said it is seeking a contract that moves “all Mount Nittany Medical Center workers forward.”
“Costs of living have skyrocketed in Centre County, but wages for all workers have not kept up,” Mulroy said. “We are united for a contract that invests in all of us who make this hospital run, so we can continue to provide award-winning care to our community.”
Union workers are set to vote Thursday on whether to authorize their bargaining committee to issue a strike notice, if necessary, should negotiations fail to produce a new labor agreement next week.
The last work stoppage at the hospital came in 2004, when workers went on strike for five days before a deal was later reached. At the time, Mount Nittany transferred stable patients to other hospitals and limited its services to emergencies, childbirth and mental health treatment.
A message left Wednesday morning with a Mount Nittany Health spokesperson was not returned.
In a mid-June proposal, the union said Mount Nittany proposed no wage increase for this year and the elimination of longevity and perfect attendance bonuses. The union said the health system also proposed a two-tier economic system that would be “detrimental to recruiting and retaining new staff amidst record profits and growth in the health system.”
In a statement, workers said they were shocked by the proposal. Alicia Sowash, a member of the union’s bargaining committee and longtime worker in nutrition and culinary services, said it made workers feel like the health system is “happy to invest in everything but the employees who make this hospital run.”
A new 10-story, 300,000-square-foot patient tower is expected to open at the end of the year. The $350 million expansion won’t increase the hospital’s bed count, but its 168 private rooms will allow the health system to convert double rooms into private spaces.
Mount Nittany also opened a $90 million, 125,000-square-foot outpatient center near Toftrees in September 2024, allowing the health network to bring together nine relocated and two new practices. Its first walk-in clinic opened in May 2024 at 2051 S. Atherton St.
A new dermatology facility is in the works at 2188 Sandy Drive in Ferguson Township. Mount Nittany purchased the property, formerly owned by State College Family Medicine, for $2.3 million in 2025.
Mount Nittany Health also spent $15.1 million in July 2024 to purchase 1700 Old Gatesburg Road in Ferguson Township and another $6.28 million in December 2024 to acquire 15.7 acres near the booming Benner Pike corridor.
Contract negotiations with the union began in at the end of April. Jenna Cowan, a medical laboratory scientist, told the CDT the committee’s top priority is safety.
“Wages are important,” Cowan said. “However, we are prioritizing safety and security.”
She said workers are optimistic a deal will be reached and that the process has brought them closer together. Cowan also thanked the Centre County community for their support.
“We’re looking for a contract that not only promotes the sustainability of the health system, but moves everybody forward,” she said. “A huge portion of the membership are nurses and I feel like those are the frontline workers that a lot of the public sees and thinks about when they think of caregivers in a hospital.
“However, it takes everybody within the building working together to provide that patient care experience that they’re used to receiving at Mount Nittany.”