Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston has not reinstated any nurses who were terminated or suspended last month.

Union officials said in a press release Monday night that one formerly terminated CMMC nurse had been reinstated. They said the nurse, who was not identified, was among 20 who were disciplined or discharged during a public union campaign in the week before nurses voted overwhelmingly last month to join the statewide labor organization Maine State Nurses Association, part of National Nurses United.

However, after a CMMC spokesperson on Tuesday disputed the claim, saying “no reinstatements from suspension or termination have occurred, and certain matters remain under investigation,” the union said it was mistaken.

“News of the reinstatement of the CMMC nurse was premature. Union nurses are still fighting for all the suspended and terminated nurses to be reinstated,” said a statement from Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. “Nurses are continuing to work with community members and elected officials to get all the nurses reinstated.”

Union supporters have alleged the disciplinary actions were retaliation for engaging in union activities, in violation of the National Labor Rights Act. Meanwhile, the hospital says that all actions against nurses were based on “documented violations of hospital standards of conduct and established policies designed to uphold those responsibilities.”

The union has filed multiple charges against CMMC to the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees labor practices and certifies elections.

The hospital is “evaluating the appropriate legal process” to address concerns about improper conduct leading up to the election, a spokesperson said.

At the center of it all is California-based Prime Healthcare Foundation, which owns CMMC, hospitals in Bridgton and Rumford and several physician practices under the Central Maine Healthcare system. City and state leaders have called directly on CEO Allen Stefanek to reinstate the nurses.

Gov. Janet Mills wrote in a letter to Stefanek that it is “unconscionable” that CMMC would fire or suspend nurses amid the ongoing nursing shortage in Maine.

Prime Healthcare Foundation’s for-profit parent company, Prime, also fired six nurses this spring during a union campaign at Olympia Fields Hospital in Illinois. The nurses also voted to join National Nurses United. Union officials wrote in the same release about CMMC’s reinstatement Monday night that four Olympia Fields nurses had been reinstated.

The four suspended nurses in Illinois were reinstated with discipline following an investigation, the CMMC spokesperson confirmed.

Katie Grinnell, a coronary care nurse who was fired by CMMC on Sept. 17, called on Prime to bring back the 20 nurses.

“Prime needs to reinstate all nurses who were suspended or fired,” Grinnell said in the release Monday. “Also, Prime must stop challenging our overwhelming victory at the ballot box. We won our union election by a landslide.”