Nurses Push Back Against AI Expansion in New York Hospitals

NYSNA warns that artificial intelligence is replacing care, not just enhancing it, as 20,000 nurses prepare for contract negotiations

Here’s what’s happening 👇

Read this if you follow health care labor issues, hospital AI innovation, or frontline worker advocacy in large metro areas.

📍 What Just Happened

Thousands of nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) are sounding the alarm over the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence in hospitals across New York City. During a November rally and testimony before the city council, nurses warned that unregulated AI use is jeopardizing patient care and threatening job security. The concerns are surfacing just as contracts for more than 20,000 nurses across 12 private hospitals are set to expire.

📋 Key Details

• Rally and Testimony: Nurses gathered on the steps of City Hall and testified on Nov. 18 about safety and working conditions

Main Grievances:

• AI tools being deployed without nurse input
• Executive pay prioritized over safe staffing
• Pressure to rely on unproven technologies like virtual nurses and AI assistants
• Hospitals Named: Mount Sinai, Montefiore, and New York-Presbyterian
• Highlighted AI Tool: “Sofiya,” an AI assistant used at Mount Sinai’s cardiac catheterization lab
• Ongoing Federal Concerns: Nurses cited funding cuts and immigration raids as additional threats to patient care
• Union Action: NYSNA launched the website NYC Hospital Greed to expose what it calls profit-driven decision-making at major hospitals

🗣️ What Nurses Are Saying

Nancy Hagans, NYSNA president and nurse at Maimonides Medical Center, accused hospitals of investing millions in AI to increase billing rather than safety. She called for transparency, nurse inclusion in tech rollouts, and accountability from administrators receiving state aid.

Denash Forbes, an ICU nurse at Mount Sinai West, testified that nurses were excluded from decision-making around a $100 million AI facility. She said the AI tools introduced errors and created more work, rather than improving conditions.

🏛️ What Lawmakers Are Saying

Mercedes Narcisse, NYC Council Member and Chair of the Hospitals Committee: “Nurses have earned better. Hospitals must invest in their workforce and ensure every patient receives the care they deserve.”

Jennifer Gutierrez, NYC Council Member: “Real nurses must remain at the bedside. Technology should not replace safe staffing.”

Phara Souffrant Forrest, NY State Assembly Member: “We need hospitals to invest in patients, not AI speculation and executive pay.”

Emily Gallagher, NY State Assembly Member: “Health care should be delivered by people, not artificial intelligence.”

🔍 Why This Matters

• The rollout of AI in hospitals could transform patient care, but critics say it must be done with proper oversight and human input
• Nurses fear being replaced by technology while also being asked to check the work of those systems
• With federal health care cuts and expiring labor contracts, the stakes are rising for New York’s health system
• The protests highlight growing national tension between labor, tech innovation, and health care leadership

🧠 The Bottom Line

Nurses are demanding to be part of the AI conversation. With thousands of contracts expiring and hospitals facing budget constraints, how institutions balance innovation with human care will shape the future of medicine in New York and beyond.