RNs from three HCA Florida hospitals to demand serious proposals to improve staffing

Nurses from three HCA Florida hospitals will rally at HCA Florida Largo Hospital in Largo, Fla., on Tuesday, July 2, to protest HCA’s failure to seriously address nurses’ concerns in contract negotiations, especially around safe staffing and patient care. Nurses at Largo Hospital, HCA Florida Northside Hospital, and HCA Florida St. Petersburg Hospital are all represented in bargaining by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). 

“When nurses are outside, there’s a problem inside,” said Keosha Morris, RN at HCA Florida Largo Hospital. “Missed meal and rest breaks, short staffing, and decreased productivity plague our profession. We have come to the table many times to help resolve these issues, but HCA stands firm on the belief that we don’t need contract improvements. We stand together to exercise our contract rights against this greedy corporation!”

Nurses’ most recent contract expired on May 31, but was extended and now expires July 1. In bargaining sessions to date, nurses report that HCA – one of the country’s richest health care companies – has been focused on shortchanging nurses and their patients, whose care conditions are directly impacted by working conditions at the facility. 

Who: Nurses from HCA Florida Largo, Northside, and St. Petersburg hospitals
What: Protest to demand a strong contract
When: Tuesday, July 2, 7:45 a.m.
Where: HCA Florida Largo Hospital, 201 14th St. SW, Largo, Fla.; at the corner of W. Bay Drive and 14th Street

HCA, the largest health system in the country, advertises over 180 hospitals in its network. The company self-reported over $5.2 billion in profits in 2023 but regularly shuts down vital health services at its hospitals. According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, HCA has reported more than $31.7 billion in profits since 2018 and executive compensation totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

HCA co-founder and major shareholder Thomas Frist Jr., who has extensive experience serving as an executive at HCA, currently ranks in the top 75 of the Forbes 400 Richest Americans and the top 60 of the Bloomberg Billionaire Index of the world’s 500 richest people, with an estimated net worth of nearly $30 billion.

NNOC/NNU represents more than 330 nurses at Largo, more than 200 nurses at Northside, and nearly 150 nurses at St. Petersburg Hospital, as well as nearly 2,500 nurses across the Gulf Coast and nearly 10,000 nurses at HCA facilities nationwide. NNOC/NNU nurses are currently negotiating new contracts at 17 HCA hospitals in six states.

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