RNs from HCA facilities will flyer with information about the Frist family’s mis-management of its HCA hospital empire. 

Registered nurses from HCA hospitals in several states will unite outside the 2025 Frist Gala at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday, April 26, to hand out flyers to gala attendees. RNs hope the flyers will start conversations with the black-tie gala’s guests about the Frist family’s role in making HCA Healthcare the largest hospital system in the United States, a sprawling for-profit empire notorious among nurses and patients for unsafe staffing levels and suboptimal care conditions.

“HCA is the industry leader in making hospitals worse,” said Marissa Lee, RN at HCA Florida Osceola Hospital in Kissimmee, Florida, and National Nurses United vice president. “They profit off our patients’ suffering and turn that money into fancy parties. We want everyone going to their parties to know where the money for these galas comes from — namely, from the suffering of people across the country in hospitals where HCA is cutting staffing, services, and supplies.”

Who:    RNs from HCA facilities across the country

What:   Informational flyering at the 2025 First Gala

When:  Saturday, April 26, 2025, as guests arrive around 5:30 p.m.

Where: Public sidewalks outside the Frist Art Museum

“More than 10,000 nurses at HCA facilities are represented by our union,” said Hannah Drummond, RN at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. “We’ve seen firsthand and talked to each other about how HCA mismanages our hospitals. We’re hoping our flyers will be a chance to educate the Frists’ guests on how their gala is bankrolled by everyday people’s suffering while HCA tries to maximize hospital profits.”

Founded in 1968 by two Frists and Wall Street venture capitalist Jack Massey, HCA is believed to be the largest hospital system in the United States, making it the largest privately owned for-profit hospital system in the country, as well. Thomas Frist Jr., one of the company’s co-founders, is one of the 100 richest people on the planet according to Bloomberg and Forbes.

The flyering nurses are represented by California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC). CNA/NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the nation’s largest nurses union. CNA/NNOC/NNU represents more than 10,000 registered nurses at 19 HCA facilities in seven states.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.