PHOTO PROVIDED The main entrance at Mount Nittany Hospital is pictured.

STATE COLLEGE — Almost 1,000 Mount Nittany Medical Center workers will hold a vote tonight to decide the date and duration of a strike, according to their union.

This follows a 99% vote on July 2, in which workers authorized their negotiating committee to send a strike notice if Mount Nittany did not negotiate a contract that “invests in all workers who provide care and keep the hospital running.”

The results of the July 8 vote will be available around 9:30 p.m. Workers will deliver a 10-day strike notice to Mount Nittany executives to ensure patient safety and continuity of care, according to SEIU Healthcare PA, the state’s largest union of nurses and healthcare workers.

In their contract negotiations on July 6, Mount Nittany offered annual raises of 3% and 2%, which the union said fall short of the recent 4.2% inflation rate.

Some Mount Nittany workers would be paid as little as $18.40 an hour, according to SEIU Healthcare PA, even though the union said a living wage in Centre County is more than $24 an hour for a single adult with no children and more than $42 an hour for a single adult with one child. With the cost of living in Centre County more expensive than larger Pennsylvania cities like Pittsburgh, many workers are forced to live far away and commute long distances.

While workers have been struggling, the union said, Mount Nittany made $509 million in total revenue and $183 million in profits in fiscal year 2025, and is the fourth most profitable hospital among 152 acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania, with a total profit margin over 30%.

“We need Mount Nittany executives to invest their massive profits in all frontline workers so we can continue providing the highest quality care and provide for our families,” said Kelsye Stott, a registered respiratory therapist with 14 years of service at Mount Nittany. “Every worker at Mount Nittany is an essential member of the healthcare delivery team, from the people who clean patient rooms, to those who prepare meals, to those who deliver lab results, to the nursing staff who give hands-on care, and all others. There is a crisis in our healthcare system and in our country overall, where hard work is no longer valued and corporate executives are putting profits above the needs of working people. As caregivers, we never want to strike and it’s always a last resort. But Mount Nittany workers are struggling, executives are just not listening to us and we have to take a stand for our patients, each other and our community.”

Instead of investing in workers, Mount Nittany executives have prioritized branding and expansion, the workers allege. This includes a recent $350 million expansion, purchasing a new dermatology practice for $2.3 million, expanding in Bellefonte and opening a new $90 million facility in Toftrees.

Almost all the staff at Mount Nittany Medical Center throughout every department are represented by their union, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. The workers include registered nurses, emergency department technicians, lab technicians, skilled maintenance, pharmacists, certified nurse aides, environmental services aides (who clean and disinfect the hospital), radiology technologists and dietary aides, among many other essential job titles.

Negotiations for a new union contract began on April 29, and their contract expired on June 30. Workers say they are committed to continue bargaining in good faith and are hopeful that management returns to negotiations to reach an agreement that invests in all workers so they can provide the care their community depends on.

Mount Nittany Medical Center was not able to be reached for comment as of press time.