April, 01 2020, 12:00am EDT
RNs at 15 HCA Hospitals to Protest Lack of COVID-19 Preparedness
Registered nurses at 15 HCA Healthcare hospitals in seven states will hold actions Wednesday and Thursday, April 1 and April 2, to protest a lack of preparedness by the nation's largest hospital chain that they say places nurses, other staff, and patients at risk in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, announced National Nurses United (NNU) today.
WASHINGTON
Registered nurses at 15 HCA Healthcare hospitals in seven states will hold actions Wednesday and Thursday, April 1 and April 2, to protest a lack of preparedness by the nation's largest hospital chain that they say places nurses, other staff, and patients at risk in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, announced National Nurses United (NNU) today.
NNU, which represents 10,000 RNs at 19 HCA hospitals in California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada and Texas, is demanding that HCA provide the optimal personal protective equipment (PPE) for nurses and other staff. That means N95 respirators or the more protective powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs), and other head-to-toe coverings.
Separately, RNs at HCA's Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C. will deliver a petition to hospital managers with their concerns about hospital COVID-19 preparedness
"Nurses at various HCA hospitals are reporting that they havehad to work without proper protective equipment," said Jean Ross, RN, president of National Nurses United.
"Nurses say they are not informed when they exposed to an infected patient. They are told to unsafely reuse masks and at one hospital they are even being told not to wear masks because it 'scared the patients.'"
"Protecting our patients is our highest priority, but it becomes much harder when we don't have the safeprotectionswhich puts us in danger of becoming infected," said Angela Davis, RN, Medical Intensive Care Unit, a dedicated COVID-19 unit, at Research Medical Center Kansas City, Mo. "If we are no longer able to be at the bedside, who will be there to care for our patients?"
"When we are infected no one is safe," said Kim Smith, RN, Intensive Care Unit, also a dedicated COVID-19 unit, at Doctors Regional Hospital/Corpus Christi Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. "When we are infected, we become a real danger of infecting everyone else around us, patients, hospital staff, and a risk to our own families."
What: RNs to protest at 15 HCA hospitals in seven states Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2 (details below)
HCA can well afford to be properly prepared for the pandemic, says NNU. Over the past decade HCA has made more than $23 billion in profits. "For the wealthiest hospital corporation in the United States to show such disregard for the health and safety of its caregivers, is disgraceful and unconscionable," said Ross.
"We are facing the gravest public health crisis in a century," said Gary Mousseau, RN, Endoscopy, Fawcett Memorial Hospital, Port Charlotte, Fla. "As nurses at HCA healthcare facilities across the country, it has been disheartening to see HCA's poor response to our safety concerns."
In a national survey of nearly 10,000 RNs in every U.S. state and territory, NNU found that HCA had among the worst records of pandemic preparedness.
- Only 35 percent of nurses at HCA Healthcare hospitals report having access to N95 respirators on their units, compared to 52 percentat other facilities
- 16 percent of nurses have access to PAPRs, compared to 23 percent of all nurses
- Just 7 percent report having enough PPEto protect staff and patients if there is a surge in patients, compared to 19 percent of all nurses
In the actions,nurses will survey their RN colleagues on PPE preparedness as they report to work at shift changes, marking checklist results on a large survey board as to whether their hospital has adequate PPE for RNs, proper isolation for infected patients, notification to staff about COVID-19 cases, and adequate COVID-19 testing for staff.
Some of the concerns RNs are reporting:
HCA West Florida Division- Will issue only one less protective surgical mask per shift. Employees will not be allowed to bring their own N95, a violation also of federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) regulations.
Blake Medical Center, Bradenton, Fla.- Employee sent home for bringing own N95. Another told to enter room of patient under investigation without an N95 mask even though every other employee in the room had an N95 mask.
Central Florida Regional Hospital, Sanford, Fla.- Nurses told that they could not wear masks while working because it "scared the patients."
Corpus Christi Medical Center, Corpus Christi, Texas - Nurses notified of exposure, but told to continue working until they showed symptoms, even though the virus can still be spread when an infected person is asymptomatic.
Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Sarasota, Fla. - Nurses exposed because negative pressure room was not working. Some 18 RNs were quarantined.
Fawcett Memorial Hospital, Port Charlotte, Fla. - Delay in reporting exposure to RNs.
Las Palmas Medical Center, El Paso, Texas -Employees in Mother-Baby units exposed to a COVID-19 positive physician. Employees not told of exposure until more than 48 hours after hospital learned about it. Nurses unsafely told to report to work until they learn their test results, potentially infecting patients, other staff.
Research Medical Center, Kansas City, Mo. - Delay in notification of being exposed to a suspected infected patients and staffand expected to continue reporting to work.
Actions with local staff contact, all times local
Wednesday, April 1
California
- Good Samaritan Hospital, 2425 Samaritan Dr., San Jose, Calif.
- Regional Medical Center of San Jose, 225 N. Jackson Ave., San Jose, Calif.
7:45am-8:30am and 4:00pm-4:30 pm tomorrow afternoon.
(local contact: Luis Bocaletti, 408-439-7953)
Florida
- Fawcett Memorial Hospital (local contact: Brian Walsh, 813-466-4810)
6:30pm-8:00pm, 21298 Olean Blvd, Port Charlotte, Fla.
- Medical Center of Trinity (local contact: Sam May, 747-207-5106)
6:30pm-8:00pm, 9330 State Road 54, Trinity, Fla.
- Osceola Regional Medical Center (local contact: Matt Emmick, 407-446-5047)
6:30pm-8:00pm, 700 West Oak St., Kissimmee, Fla.
Missouri
Research Medical Center,Nurses from Menorah Medical Center, Overland Park, KS will also be participating (local contact: Julie Perry RN, 816-665-4746)6:30 pm-8:00pm, 2316 E Meyer Blvd, Kansas City, Mo.
Nevada
Mountainview Hospital (local contact: LaNitaTroyano, 702-682-9678)6:30pm-
8:00pm, 3100 N. Tenaya Way, Las Vegas, Nev.
Texas
Del Sol Medical Center (local contact: MateosChekol, 915-307-1285)
6:30pm-8:00pm, 10301 Gateway West Blvd., El Paso, Texas
Corpus Christi Medical Center (local contact: Omar Bantayan, 956-250-1824), 6:30pm-7:00pm, 3315 S. Alameda St., Corpus Christi, Texas
Thursday, April 2
Florida
- Oak Hill Hospital (local contact: Sam May, 747-207-5106)
6:30am-8:00am, 11375 Cortez Blvd, Spring Hill, Fla.
Central Florida Regional Hospital (local contact: Matt Emmick, 407-446-5047)
6:30am-8:00am, 1401 W. Seminole Blvd., Sanford, Fla.
Blake Medical Center(local contact: Brian Walsh,813-466-4810)
6:30am-8:00am, 2020 59th St., Bradenton, Fla.
- Doctors Hospital of Sarasota(local contact: Brian Walsh, 813-466-4810)
6:30pm-8:00pm, 5731 Bee Ridge Rd., Sarasota, Fla.
North Carolina
Mission Hospital, Ashville, N.C. (RN petition to hospital officials only)
(local contact: Bradley Van Waus, 240-460-0352)
Texas
Las Palmas Medical Center (local contact: MateosChekol, 915-307-1285)
8:00am-9:00am, 1801 N. Oregon St., El Paso, Texas
National Nurses United, with close to 185,000 members in every state, is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in US history.
(240) 235-2000LATEST NEWS
'It Will Kill People': HHS Proposal Targeting Transgender Healthcare Could Cause Even More Hospitals to Close
One advocate said the proposed rule would force hospitals "to choose between providing lifesaving care for trans people or maintaining the ability to serve patients through Medicare and Medicaid."
Oct 30, 2025
A pair of extreme new Trump administration rules aimed at functionally banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth could force even more hospitals to close down.
NPR reported Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) drafted a proposed rule that would prohibit federal Medicaid reimbursement for medical care provided to transgender patients younger than 18 and prohibit the same from the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for patients under 19.
Another proposed rule goes even further, blocking all Medicaid and Medicare funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youth.
As Erin Reed, an independent journalist who reports on LGBTQ+ rights, explained, this "would effectively eliminate access to such care nationwide, except at the few private clinics able to forgo Medicaid entirely, a rarity in transgender youth medicine."
The policies are of a piece with the Trump administration and the broader Republican Party's efforts to eliminate transgender healthcare for youth across the country.
Bans on gender-affirming care for those under 18 have already been passed in 27 states, despite evidence that early access to treatments like puberty blockers and hormones can save lives.
As Reed pointed out, a Cornell University review of more than 51 studies shows that access to such care dramatically reduces the risk of suicide and the rates of anxiety and depression among transgender adolescents.
The new HHS rules are being prepared for public release in November and would not be finalized for several more months.
But if passed, the ramifications could extend far beyond transgender people, impacting the entire healthcare system, for which federal funding from Medicare and Medicaid is a load-bearing piece. According to a report last year from the American Hospital Association, 96% of hospitals in the US have more than half their inpatient days paid for by Medicare and Medicaid.
It is already becoming apparent what happens when even some of that funding is taken away. As a result of the massive GOP budget law passed in July, an estimated $1 trillion is expected to be cut from Medicaid over the next decade. According to an analysis released Thursday by Protect Our Care, which maintains a Hospital Crisis Watch database, more than 500 healthcare providers across the country are already at risk of shutting down due to the budget cuts.
Tyler Hack, the executive director of the Christopher Street Project, a transgender rights organization, said that the newly proposed HHS rule would be "forcing hospitals to choose between providing lifesaving care for trans people or maintaining the ability to serve patients through Medicare and Medicaid."
"Today’s news marks a dangerous overreach by the executive branch, pitting trans people, low-income families, disabled people, and seniors against each other and making hospitals choose which vulnerable populations to serve," Hack said. "If these rules become law, it will kill people."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Demand for Trump's Social Security Chief Bisignano to Resign After $30 Billion Implosion of Former Company
"Bisignano is in charge of the American people’s hard-earned Social Security benefits, as well as the collection of our taxes," said one advocate. "If he engaged in wrongdoing, the people need to know."
Oct 30, 2025
The new CEO of the financial services technology company Fiserv said Wednesday that the firm's financial outlook was grim, sending its stock collapsing by more than 40% and erasing $30 billion in market value—and laid the blame squarely with a Trump administration appointee whom the president has praised as "amazing."
When nominating former Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano as Social Security administrator earlier this year, President Donald Trump said the executive frequently "takes troubled entities and turns them around."
With current Fiserv chief Mike Lyons warning on Wednesday that Bisignano had made major missteps as CEO, overinflating its sales projections and relying on short-term cost-cutting before selling his stock for $500 million, the advocacy group Social Security Works said beneficiaries of the government's anti-poverty program for senior citizens should be alarmed that the former executive is now in charge of their crucial benefits.
"Fiserv lost 40% of its value because the former CEO, Frank Bisignano, is a liar," said SSW. "But Bisignano is Trump's buddy, so he can only fail up. He's now in charge of your Social Security."
Lyons told analysts and investors that when Bisignano was leading Fiserv from 2020 until earlier this year, the company made sales projections that "would have been objectively difficult to achieve even with the right investment and strong execution."
He added that Bisignano made "decisions to defer certain investments and cut certain costs [which] improved margins in the short term but are now limiting our ability to serve clients in a world-class way, execute product launches to our standards and grow revenue to our full potential.”
Translating Lyons' comment, Brett Arends wrote at MarketWatch that "under Bisignano, the company made forecasts it could not plausibly have achieved" and that the former CEO "was chasing short-term quarterly results, not building the business."
"Did Bisignano know that Fiserv’s stock was about to tank, and ask his friend Donald Trump for a life raft?"
Lyons broke the news to investors weeks after a police pension fund sued Fiserv and Bisignano, as well as the new CEO, for "artificially inflating [Fiserv’s] growth numbers."
But along with causing his former company's value to plummet, emphasized SSW president Nancy Altman on Thursday, Bisignano personally benefited from overestimating his firm's performance—selling more than three million shares after he was appointed Social Security administrator for at least $500 million.
"That sale saved him $300 million (and counting) in stock value," said Altman. "Did Bisignano know that Fiserv’s stock was about to tank, and ask his friend Donald Trump for a life raft?"
Altman demanded that Bisignano "resign immediately" from his roles at the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, where he was also named the first-ever CEO earlier this month.
"Bisignano is in charge of the American people’s hard-earned Social Security benefits, as well as the collection of our taxes—despite his total lack of expertise, or even basic knowledge, of either," said Altman. "He infamously admitted that he had to Google ‘Social Security’ when Trump offered him the job. If he engaged in wrongdoing, the people need to know."
Altman called on the US Department of Justice and Congress to launch "immediate" investigations into Bisignano's conduct as CEO of Fiserv, but noted that with Republican allies of Trump running the government, the former executive is unlikely to be held accountable."
"The only recourse," said Altman, "is for Democrats to win control of Congress and make investigating Bisignano a top priority.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Even During Shutdown, Senate GOP Does Big Oil's Bidding With Vote to Gut Arctic Protections
"This vote will authorize the fossil fuel industry's continued destruction of habitat and landscapes that are critical for wildlife to survive."
Oct 30, 2025
The Republican-controlled US Senate voted Thursday to scrap a Biden-era policy that protected millions of acres in the Alaskan Arctic from fossil fuel drilling, even as the government shutdown continued with no end in sight.
The final vote on the resolution, led by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), was 52-45, almost entirely along party lines. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting for the measure, which aims to use the Congressional Review Act to revoke a 2022 Biden administration decision protecting swaths of the Western Arctic.
The resolution still must pass the House, which is also controlled by Republicans.
Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, said the vote shows that President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are "exploiting" the prolonged shutdown to "hand over our public lands and wild places to corporate polluters."
"Donald Trump's government shutdown has dragged on for nearly five weeks, and what is the top priority for Congressional Republicans? Opening up the western Arctic to oil and gas drilling, not funding services or making sure our military is paid?" said Manuel. "It's shameful."
Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations at Defenders of Wildlife, warned that "this vote will authorize the fossil fuel industry's continued destruction of habitat and landscapes that are critical for wildlife to survive."
"The Trump administration and its allies in Congress are prioritizing profits for oil executives and billionaires over the basic needs of hardworking Americans."
The Senate vote comes days after Trump's Interior Department, led by billionaire drilling enthusiast Doug Burgum, wrenched open all 1.56 million acres of the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing.
Trump campaigned on a pledge to accelerate climate-destroying fossil fuel drilling and openly promised oil and gas executives that he would move swiftly to gut regulations in exchange for their financial support in the election.
One estimate released in the wake of the election found that oil and gas interests spent nearly $450 million to boost Trump and Republican candidates and bolster their legislative priorities on Capitol Hill.
Andy Moderow, senior director of policy at the Alaska Wilderness League, said in a statement that Thursday's vote "is yet another reminder that the Trump administration and its allies in Congress are prioritizing profits for oil executives and billionaires over the basic needs of hardworking Americans."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular