Nurse Shares Heartfelt Struggles During Grand Blanc Strike

A healthcare worker who has been on the front line, standing with the rest of her coworkers who are on strike from Henry Ford Genesys in Grand Blanc, has opened up about their experiences and is urging everyday citizens to reach out and help put patients first.

Crystal Dhooghe was one woman who, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, earned her nursing degree by attending classes every night while still working 12-hour shifts in the military, and ultimately finished her bachelor's degree to try to make a difference in the healthcare field.

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But she now says that it’s all been in vain, as she claims that caring for patients and doing what’s right has been torn in half by corporate greed, according to a Facebook post she made:

As nurses, we deserve better. Day in and day out, we care for patients in the worst moments of their lives. Think about it: we can’t even go to the bathroom at work without fearing that one of our patients might die in the emergency room while we’re gone for a quick minute. Can you imagine?!

She continues to explain the most serious of the issues her and her coworkers face at their job:

We cannot safely care for 6+ critical patients at one time or 11+ patients on the floors. We cannot keep working through our lunch breaks every single day. We cannot keep paying outrageously high insurance premiums only to have zero out-of-network appointments approved—because our employer owns the insurance company. We will not accept it any longer.

As someone who has family in the healthcare industry, I hope the strike brings positive change, and these companies start taking care of their employees that we all depend on.

It's just surprising that with so many issues, the hospital landed on a Top 10 best in the state list: