Honolulu police arrest 10 protesters outside Kapi'olani Hospital

Honolulu police arrested 10 protesters this morning for alleged obstruction as they demanded an immediate end to the lockout of approximately 600 nurses from the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children union.

Those arrested outside the hospital included recently elected state Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto, Democratic candidate for state House of Representatives Ikaika Hussey, and John Witeck and Sergio Alcubilla of the Hawaii Workers Center.

Officers arrested the 10 protesters for allegedly blocking buses carrying backup nurses from reaching the hospital. The arrested protesters sat in front of the entrance to the roundabout and linked arms, blocking the entrance for two charter buses.

“Several individuals who blocked the driveway of Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children this morning were arrested,” HPD spokeswoman Sarah Yoro said in an email. “HPD officers issued several warnings to clear the driveway before issuing obstruction tickets under Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 711-1105. Ten individuals who refused to leave the driveway were arrested and taken to the Alapai cell block.”

During a press conference in Kapi'olani this afternoon, Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta said, “What happened this morning was disruptive and dangerous to our patients, staff and community.”

“HNA says nurses want to care for patients, but unfortunately their actions today demonstrated the opposite,” Ruscetta said in his opening remarks. “With the support of HNA, protesters blocked access to our medical center for more than two hours. The temporary nurses who are here to care for our patients were denied access to the campus for their shifts. The buses for the temporary nurses attempted to turn into the hospital twice, and both times were unsuccessful.”

For this reason, two expectant mothers were forced to enter the hospital from further away via the main exit to register for their delivery.

“We know of more than 25 patients who were delayed because they had difficulty getting to their appointments,” she said. “Others have rescheduled their appointments. The protest on the driveway also prevented a surgeon from entering. We know of several dozen vehicles that had to be rerouted to use the exit ramp to our campus.”

She said the temporary nurses finally made it to campus at 10 a.m. to start their day shift, about three hours later than scheduled. The temporary nurses on the night shift stayed until the rotation could be made.

Today marks ten days since Kapi'olani management barred unionized nurses from returning to work until the Hawaii Nurses' Association unconditionally accepts management's latest contract offer.

“Our demonstrations are increasingly drawing attention to this important issue,” HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said in a press release. “Today we saw community leaders step forward to voice their concerns about the hospital's nurse lockout. They are willing to be arrested because of the negative impact it has on Hawaii's patients and their families. Their peaceful act of civil disobedience showed their solidarity with the nurses and called on the hospital to end the nurse lockout and restore quality care to keiki and women.”

Kapi'olani COO Ruscetta said in a statement this morning: “We respect the right to peaceful protest, but demonstrations must not negatively impact patient care. Access to our medical center must remain open to our community. We rely on the Honolulu Police Department to take appropriate action.”

A large crowd of unionized nurses and their supporters gathered outside Kapi'olani Medical Center at 6 a.m. to hold a demonstration against the management lockout that was scheduled to begin with a prayer and last three hours.

The nurses, who say they are fighting for safe staffing ratios for patients, chanted “Scabs, go home!” and “No justice, no peace” as two charter buses eventually drove straight down Bingham Street instead of turning into the driveway.

A press release from HNA said that community members had already gathered before normal business hours to minimize the impact on patients and that traveling nurses were traveling with patients from the previous shift.

HNA and Kapi'olani were scheduled to resume talks at 10 a.m. today for the fifth consecutive day. However, due to events this morning, the talks have been postponed until 1:15 p.m. today, Ruscetta said.

Both parties met for several hours on Sunday and held joint discussions on staffing, Ruscetta said in an earlier statement.