Registered nurses at HCA-affiliated hospitals in Florida, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and Nevada have voted overwhelmingly to ratify contracts featuring a number of innovations that will benefit both patients and nurses, the National Nurses Organizing Committee announced today.

The pacts cover 7,000 RNs at 10 HCA-affiliated hospitals in Florida, four in Texas, and one each in Missouri, Kansas, and Nevada. Nurses voted to ratify the agreements in polling that took place between Oct. 12 and Oct. 29, depending on the facility. The contracts will run through May 31, 2021 at the hospitals in Florida, Kansas, and Missouri, and through June 30, 2021 at the facilities in Texas and Nevada. HCA is the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country.

“On behalf of our members across the nation, I extend a hearty congratulations to the nurses at these HCA-affiliated hospitals, for winning contracts that honor and support optimal patient care,” said National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. “These new pacts clearly demonstrate what nurses can accomplish when we are persistent and unified, including in environments that are hostile to collective bargaining rights. Your powerful patient advocacy is an inspiration to us all.”

“Our collective effort, spanning five states, has yielded wonderful results,” said Lucia Adams, RN, who works on the Maternal Child Transport Team at Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. “The new contract will really help us nurses provide high-quality care for our patients and the communities we serve.”

“After many months of dedicated, coordinated bargaining, we have settled on terrific new contracts with all the hospitals,” said Jack Hood, an RN in the ICU at Oakhill Hospital in Brooksville, Fla. “The gains we have achieved are truly remarkable, and will greatly improve our ability to recruit and retain nurses so that we can give our patients the care they deserve.”

“We are very proud of the new contracts because they fulfill our commitment to negotiating solutions to the issues we’ve been raising, including turnover, recruitment and retention,” said Leslie Rogers, an RN in the operating room at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo.  “We know these contracts will have a positive impact on a number of levels and contribute to our ability to provide our patients with safe, quality care.”

Highlights of the contracts include:

• Creation of a new critical-needs staffing differential that will provide for additional staffing in order to consistently have optimal staffing.
• Fair and equitable raises to improve recruitment and retention of nurses. Increases range from 4 to 20 percent over the lifetime of the agreement, depending on years of experience and classification.
• Maintenance of existing health insurance coverage for nurses and their families.
• Improvements in tuition reimbursement and coverage for nurses needing Family Medical Leave.
• Increases in protections and solutions to prevent workplace violence.

The agreements make substantial strides for working conditions for RNs, patient care standards, and the quality of care at the 17 facilities, as well as noteworthy economic gains. 

The new contracts cover the following HCA-affiliated hospitals, with a total workforce of 7,000 RNS:

Florida

• Bradenton - Blake Medical Center
• Brooksville - Oak Hill Hospital
• Kissimmee - Osceola Regional Medical Center
• Largo - Largo Medical Center
• Port Charlotte - Fawcett Memorial Hospital
• Sanford - Central Florida Regional Hospital
• Sarasota - Doctors Hospital of Sarasota
• St. Petersburg - Northside Hospital
• St. Petersburg - St. Petersburg General Hospital
• Trinity - Trinity Medical Center

Kansas

• Overland Park - Menorah Medical Center

Missouri

• Kansas City - Research Medical Center

Nevada

• Las Vegas - MountainView Hospital

Texas

• Brownsville - Valley Regional Medical Center
• Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi Medical Center
• El Paso - Las Palmas Medical Center
• El Paso - Del Sol Medical Center

National Nurses Organizing Committee is affiliated with National Nurses United, the largest- and fastest-growing union of registered nurses in the United States with 150,000 members. NNU plays a leadership role in safeguarding the health and safety of RNs and their patients and has won landmark legislation in the areas of staffing, safe patient handling, infectious disease, and workplace violence prevention.