Nurses at two Michigan hospitals being transferred from Ascension Health to Beacon Health System say a lack of transparency has raised concerns over their continued employment and other issues like benefits.

The alarm was sounded Tuesday morning by the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA), which has members at Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo and Ascension Borgess Allegan Hospital. Those facilities are among the four southwest Michigan hospitals and other sites the nonprofit health systems announced in early April would be transferred from the Catholic health giant to Indiana-based Beacon.

The union pointed to a notice Ascension employees received that said they would be transitioned over “so long as you meet the Beacon Health System employment requirements,” which the MNA said also “refers to the possible need for employees to complete ‘all steps as soon as possible.’”

As of Tuesday morning, however, Beacon had not specified to employees what those employment requirements entailed and has not met with the nurses’ union to discuss any aspects of the acquisition since it was announced, the MNA said.

The result, per the union, is “hundreds of nurses” at the two hospitals unsure whether they’ll have a job when the deal is closed, which could come as soon as next month.

“It’s ridiculous that nurses who have served our community for decades have to worry about whether they’ll still have a job after Beacon’s takeover,” Lori Batzloff, a nurse at Ascension Borgess in Kalamazoo and president of its MNA local bargaining unit, said in a statement. “It’s not fair to make us guess about our employment or jump through unknown hoops to keep working. It feels like a punch in the gut to be treated so disrespectfully when it comes to our jobs and our retirement.”

The MNA said it is asking the system to provide “job guarantees” to the nurses. Its statement also referenced the terminations of 244 of the hospitals and related facilities’ contracted workers who were recently laid off by their employer Compass Group, which according to a WARN filing is set to go into effect July 1.

Beacon, in a requested statement, said it has “reassured both clinicians and associates that we are committed to their continued employment” at the organization. The system had outlined a similar goal at the time of the deal, writing in an online FAQ that all clinicians and associates “would be offered the opportunity to continue employment … provided they follow Beacon’s hiring process and meet the legal requirements to work.”

Beacon also told workers covered under a collective bargaining agreement in early May that it is similarly “committed to honoring these agreements,” the system added in its statement.

As for the specific employment requirements, Beacon said it knows “there will be additional questions. Beacon and Ascension are dedicated to transparency and sharing information as it’s finalized and becomes available during this ongoing process. We are focused on a smooth transition for associates, physicians and patients as our organizations share a commitment to improving health in the communities we serve.”

The health system’s statement did not address a meeting with the union’s representatives.

It also did not touch on a separate concern the MNA said has “upset” nurses at the Kalamazoo hospital—lost access to unvested health retirement benefits once their employment is transitioned. Those nurses said the unvested funds are contractually guaranteed and have filed a grievance, the MNA said.

Separately, the MNA’s statement extended the transparency criticisms to Ascension for its decision not to share the full sales agreement with nurses.

The union said the document “contains important information about how the transition will affect the nurses” but that so far the system would only agree to sharing a document “with the caveat that it may not be accurate or complete.”

Ascension did not respond to Fierce Healthcare’s request for comment.

Financial terms of the nonprofit health systems’ deal have not been disclosed, and the transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals.

For Beacon, it represents a clear expansion into Michigan where it so far does not operate a hospital. The transaction will grow the system to a total of 11 hospitals, about 190 total care sites and about 10,800 employees, it said in April. Beacon also said it plans to “keep the commitments” Ascension has made to the local community in place following the handoff.

Ascension has been elbow deep in an overhaul of its hospital portfolio. While it sat at 94 wholly owned or consolidated hospitals as well as ownership interests in an additional 27 as of the end of March, the organization within the past year has executed a handoff of eight Illinois hospitals to Prime Healthcare, the transfer of a majority interest in eight hospitals to Henry Ford Health and the sale of three others to MyMichigan Health.