Twelve nurses in New York City were laid off on Sunday and replaced with AI software, according to their union — a move that comes not long after nurses went on strike and fought for safeguards against AI.
One of the laid off workers, Marilyn Shuler, had worked at Montefiore hospital in the Bronx as a utilization nurse for 39 years before suddenly losing her job. Utilization nurses review patient charts to show that their care is medically necessary so that an insurance company will cover it.
“I’ve always, always taken so much pride in the organization that I’ve worked for all these years, and just to be treated this way,” Shuler told The Guardian. “It’s disrespectful, and it’s very disheartening, and my colleagues feel the same way as well.”
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which represents the healthcare workers, issued a statement earlier this month warning that Montefiore intended to replace nurses with AI. That has now come to bear. It also drew attention to the fact that the company providing the AI software, Datavant, has partnerships with Palantir, the surveillance tech firm which has stirred considerable controversy for its collaboration with ICE.
In January, some 15,000 nurses started what would become a 41-day strike at several of the state’s largest hospitals. The outcome of this was a new three-year contract which included historic safeguards against AI.
But when Shuler and others returned to work in February, their workflow was changed without explanation, according to The Guardian. After a period of radio silence from management, the dozen nurses abruptly received 45-day notices in late May saying that they would be laid off.
“We are outraged about these layoffs because these dedicated nurses are being replaced by AI,” Shaiju Kalathil, a Montefiore nurse and a union committee member, said in the statement. “This is a violation of the contract that we recently won by going on strike. It should also concern every practitioner and patient who cares about the future of healthcare and the quality of care they receive.”
There’ve been clear warning signs that AI could disrupt healthcare workers. Doctors and nurses use AI tools for clinical notes, and some clinics use AI to help triage patients. Shortly after the nurses’ strike, the CEO of the NYC Health and Hospitals, the largest city healthcare system in the US, openly enthused about replacing radiologists with AI.
The transition to using AI could carry significant risks. In Brazil, a 32-year-old woman reportedly died after an AI system for assigning hospital beds left her waiting five days to be transferred to an intensive care unit.
Montefiore denies the framing that it replaced workers with AI.
“As is often the case, the claims by NYSNA are inaccurate and misleading,” Joe Solmonese, senior vice-president for government relations and strategic communications at Montefiore, told The Guardian. “What is true is that we are always investing in new technology to ensure the best care and outcomes for our patients and will continue to do so for the betterment of the people we serve.”
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