Montana Nurses Association said it's shut out by Gianforte

Over the last three months, as the coronavirus has continued to cripple the state, the Montana Nurses Association said it has tried eight times to schedule a meeting with Gov. Greg Gianforte to address the need for more support for nurses on the front lines.

“We should be at the table; it breaks my heart. We are at such a bad place,” said Vicky Byrd, chief executive officer of the MNA. “It couldn’t be more frustrating. We started reaching out because we just wanted to talk about nurses and COVID. After all, they are the ones that are there 24/7 and watching people die and watching unvaccinated people getting admitted and dying.”

Gianforte’s office did not respond to a question about why the nurses group hasn’t been granted a meeting or how the governor decides who has access and who doesn’t.

At the core of Byrd’s frustration is a recent effort by Gianforte to recruit out-of-state health care workers that seemed to include a spot at the table for every medical association outside of the nurses association.

Read more: https://dailymontanan.com/2021/11/10/montana-nurses-association-said-its-shut-out-by-gianforte/