Patient-Safety Complaints up 43% at McLaren Lapeer

Nurses have filed 328 forms in past six months vs. 229 in previous period

LAPEER, MI – Registered nurses at McLaren Lapeer have filed more than 328 patient safety complaints in the past six months – up 43 percent from the previous six months’ total – as nurses continue to advocate for the corporation to focus on patient care.

The McLaren Lapeer nurses fill out a safety complaint when they are put in a situation that is unsafe or potentially unsafe, such as perceived short staffing, and documents any recognized harm or delays in patient care.   

 These filings have increased from 229 in the six months in September 2025 through February 2026 to 328 in the six months from March through August – a 43 percent increase. Forty forms have been filed so far in September, as of Tuesday (Sept. 22). The forms go to management and to the union. 

The increase in documented patient care problems comes at a time of rapidly rising income for the hospital and compensation for McLaren executives. 

“Nurses are sick of management putting us in situations every single day, month after month, that keep us from providing the safe, quality care our patients deserve,” said Ashley Witmer, a McLaren Lapeer nurse and president of the Michigan Nurses Association union there. “We’re releasing these patient safety numbers because our community deserves to know what’s happening inside the walls of their hospital. McLaren should be ashamed of ignoring the voices of their nurses and the critical needs of our patients – all just to pile up the profits and boost pay for their executives.”

McLaren Health CEO Phil Incarnati is getting almost $12 million a year in compensation, an increase of 33% over 3 years. Hospital CEO Tim Vargas’s annual compensation ballooned to $623,000 in 2024*, up 35 percent from the year before. And the hospital’s net income was $14 million in 2024, which was nearly double the year before, which itself was more than double the year before that.

The Lapeer nurses say McLaren can and must fix the hospital’s patient safety crisis, and that one immediate step is bargaining a fair contract that honors the nurses’ proposals for safe staffing, including:

• Improved RN staffing requirements, especially in the overwhelmed Emergency Department
  • Protection against nurses being forced to work in units where they are not trained

“For us nurses, the bottom line isn’t profits – it’s our patients,” said Mike Goad, a McLaren Lapeer nurse and member of the elected RN bargaining team. “There’s no excuse for management failing to provide the conditions nurses need to take great care of people whose lives are in our hands. We won’t stop advocating for what’s best for our patients and our community.”

The Lapeer nurses voted 94 percent on Thursday (Sept. 17) to authorize a strike based on McLaren’s inadequate proposals in bargaining and their anti-union actions; if the bargaining team does call a strike, the nurses would give McLaren 10 days’ notice to prepare.

A supermajority of nurses signed a declaration of “no confidence” in CEO Tim Vargas this month, citing the fact that the hospital is physically falling apart, patient safety concerns are rising, and severe staffing cuts made through an anti-union action are loading up the nurses with even more work. 

Bargaining resumes tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 24).

*2024 is the most recent year for which numbers are publicly available.

The Michigan Nurses Association is the largest union and professional association representing registered nurses and healthcare professionals in Michigan. MNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United and the AFL-CIO.