Montefiore Medical Center/courtesy photo

A Manhattan federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accused a Bronx hospital of not doing enough to protect nurses battling the coronavirus crisis.

The federal litigation from the New York State Nurses Association against the Montefiore Medical Center argued that nurses were treating sick patients with "inadequate" equipment and were frequently working while sick because they were "forced back to work too early."

The suit sought a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order to force the hospital to provide a sufficient amount of personal protective equipment.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman wrote late Friday that the court lacked the subject-matter jurisdiction to grant the injunction, but urged both sides to find a resolution.  

The nurses union and the hospital both presumably want to heighten protections for frontline workers, he wrote, and both sides are in a better position to reach that goal than a court or an arbitrator. If an amicable resolution fails, Furman wrote he hopes both sides move to accelerate arbitration proceedings. 

"This Court may lack authority to address NYSNA's concerns, but to the extent these concerns are valid, it is critical that they be addressed as swiftly as possible," the judge wrote. "Lives may hang in the balance, and the NYSNA nurses deserve as much."

Furman expressed sympathy for both sides in the lawsuit. He lauded nurses as being heroes, saying they put their own lives at risk every day to try and save others. But he wrote the challenges facing hospitals are "undoubtedly staggering," considering diminished resources and extraordinary demand.

Along with concerns about equipment access, the nurse union lawsuit asserted that nurses were treating coronavirus patients in rooms that were not properly converted to handle a COVID-19 patient. It also alleged nurses were treating patients in practice areas where they haven't been trained.

A Montefiore representative issued a statement characterizing the union's behavior as "disgraceful and counterproductive," panning it as "a distraction from our efforts to save lives throughout the crisis."

The nurses union issued its own statement, saying the medical center, following the lawsuit filing, has said it will expand COVID-19 testing to more nurses and properly fit nurses with N95 respirator masks.

The union argued that every safety improvement made by the medical center stemmed from nurses fighting for working conditions.

The litigation against Montefiore was one of three similar lawsuits filed by the union on April 20. 

One suit against the state's Department of Health argued the agency failed to ensure that nurses were provided minimal PPE while looking after COVID-19 patients. It was filed in state court.

Another state court lawsuit accused the Westchester Medical Center of creating workplace hazards by rationing N95 respirators and gowns.