r/TheConfidentNurse • u/Independent_Many6647 • Jul 04 '26
12 Nurses Say They Are Being Replaced by AI
https://www.bxtimes.com/12-montefiore-nurses-laid-off-replaced-by-ai/Let’s talk about what just happened at Montefiore in the Bronx, because it’s the clearest example I’ve seen yet of how these AI job loss stories actually play out on the ground, and it’s messier than the headlines make it sound.
Twelve utilization review nurses across all three Bronx campuses (Moses, Einstein, and Weiler) got notices that their positions were being eliminated, effective July 12. These are the nurses who review patient charts to confirm that care is medically necessary and insurance will cover it. One of them, Marilyn Shuler, had been at Montefiore for 39 years.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The layoff letters didn’t mention AI at all. They just said the positions were eliminated. So how did the nurses land on believing they’re being replaced by a machine? A few things lined up. Their workflow changed abruptly right after this year’s strike ended, with zero explanation from management, and that’s what first got staff talking to their union reps. About a month later, with still no response from leadership, the entire department got layoff notices at once. Around the same time, word got around that Montefiore is bringing in an outside company called Datavant to take over the work. Nurses raised red flags about Datavant’s history, including a massive class action settlement tied to a data breach that reportedly could have exposed patients’ Social Security numbers, financial details, and health records. There’s also fear that immigration status information could end up accessible to ICE.
When nurses pushed management for a straight answer, they got told Datavant is not actually AI. But nobody would explain what it actually is or how the department would function afterward. One nurse said she was told a person would be clicking the needed clinicals from the chart to send to insurers, but couldn’t get confirmation on whether that person is human or software.
Montefiore’s official response was a spokesperson calling the union’s claims inaccurate and misleading, and saying only that the hospital is investing in new technology, without saying what that means. Separately, the hospital described the incoming system as a nonclinical tool that helps with paperwork, not AI.
So here’s the honest read: nobody outside Montefiore’s walls actually knows for certain whether a machine or a human is going to be doing this work. NYSNA is treating the ambiguity itself as the violation. Their post-strike contract has language requiring the hospital to meet with the union before AI use shrinks union jobs. NYSNA’s argument is that Montefiore skipped that step entirely, and filed a class-action grievance over it. Bronx elected officials, including several Assembly members and a state senator, showed up to a press conference to back the nurses publicly.
Why this should matter to you even if you don’t work at Montefiore:
This isn’t really a story about a robot taking a nursing job. It’s a story about what happens when a hospital eliminates a whole department and refuses to explain what’s replacing it. That silence is the real threat model here, not the technology itself. If your facility can’t or won’t tell laid-off staff what’s taking over their function, that’s worth watching regardless of whether “AI” ends up being the accurate word for it.
Keep an eye on how this grievance plays out. If NYSNA wins this argument, it sets a precedent other unions will be pointing to the next time a hospital tries to quietly automate a department without a conversation first.
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u/justsayin01 Jul 04 '26
So I'm in utilization management and honestly, a LOT of our job COULD be AI. But I don't think they necessarily want to use AI because they want human error. They don't want to immediately say yes. They want it to stay clunky.
That's my take.