HCA Nurses Protest Lack Of Coronavirus Protection, Layoffs
TRINITY, FL — Registered nurses at 15 HCA Healthcare hospitals in six states, including eight Florida hospitals, are taking to the streets Thursday and Friday to protest the hospital chain's treatment of nurses during the coronavirus pandemic.
The nurses say the for-profit hospital chain, the largest in the country, has not only failed to provide adequate protections for hospital staff during the pandemic but is planning to lay off nurses and cut salaries.
Protests by registered nurses are taking place Thursday at Medical Center of Trinity in Pasco County, Blake Medical Center in Bradenton and Doctors Hospital of Sarasota.
On Friday, protests are scheduled at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, Oak Hill Hospital in Brooksville, Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlott, Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee and St. Petersburg General Hospital.
According to National Nurses United, a union representing 10,000 HCA registered nurses, nurses are putting their lives on the line during the coronavirus pandemic. According the NNU, 110 nurses have died across the country from the coronavirus, the highest number anywhere in the world.
“After nurses have put their lives on the line to protect HCA patients, it defies belief that HCA, which has widely failed to provide the protection nurses need, wants to further punish them with layoffs and other cuts,” said Malinda Markowitz, National Nurses United vice president and longtime HCA RN.
While HCA CEO Sam Hazen said the hospital chain hasn't laid off or furloughed any employees during the pandemic, he concedes this hasn't been the case at other hospitals across the country.
"Hospitals everywhere are making tough staffing choices to secure their future and remain viable with approximately 1.4 million health care workers being laid off or furloughed since the pandemic," Hazen said in a statement. "Many systems have also decreased hours, instituted pay cuts or reduced benefits to remain financially stable."
The American Hospital Association released a report this month estimating that, between March 1 and June 30, hospitals and health systems across the country will experience $200 billion in losses because of coronavirus expenses and lost revenue.
"Hospitals everywhere are making tough staffing choices to secure their future and remain viable with approximately 1.4 million health care workers being laid off or furloughed since the pandemic," Hazen said. "Many systems have also decreased hours, instituted pay cuts or reduced benefits to remain financially stable."
He said HCA is taking steps to avoid staff and salary cuts.
"From day one, we addressed the pandemic with two clear objectives. The first, to protect our people - keep them safe and keep them employed. The second, to protect the company - ensure its viability from a financial standpoint, so we can continue to serve our communities for years to come," he said.
Despite denials by Hazen, Markowitz said HCA is planning similar staff and salary reductions. She said the company has told staff it plans to make an undetermined number of layoffs, wage freezes and other cuts. At some HCA facilities, she said, hospital executives are also threatening unilateral cuts in nurses’ hours and “reassignment."
Meanwhile, she said HCA received a $700 million bailout from the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and $4 billion in Medicare loans. Over the past decade, Markowitz said the hospital chain has reported more than $25 billion in profits.
“It is unconscionable for HCA to use the cover of the pandemic to swell its profits and dividends for shareholders at the expense of its frontline caregivers, and the patients who will be harmed by cuts in nursing staff,” Markowitz said.
“Threats of layoffs also are a clear signal to our patients to expect cuts in patient services,” said Candice Cordero, a registered nurse at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton. “It is unconscionable for HCA to be frightening our communities with the loss of needed patient care, especially from a system with so much wealth.”
The portended pay cuts and layoffs “are especially disgraceful and a slap in the face while we have struggled, often without adequate protective support from HCA, to protect our patients, keep ourselves and our families safe, and limit the spread of the virus in the face of this dangerous pandemic,” said Edie Gates, a registered nurse at Oak Hill Hospital in Brooksville, one of 46 HCA hospitals in Florida.
Last week, NNU released the results of a survey of 23,000 nurses in all 50 states documenting that, months after the outbreak of the coronavirus, nurses continue to work with unsafe protection.
Nearly 2,000 of the responses came from registered nurses in Florida, 83 percent of which reported being compelled to re-use single-use disposable respirators or masks with a coronavirus patient. More than two-thirds said they had to work with exposed skin when caring for confirmed or suspected infected patients. A third said they were required to use “decontaminated” respirators with confirmed coronavirus patients.
Additionally, more than 80 percent of Florida registered nurses say they have not been tested for the virus.
“When we are infected, no one is safe,” said Louella Ellis, a registered nurse at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford. “When nurses are lost, who will be there to take care of our patients?”
In a statement, the hospital chain admitted to a shortage of PPP.
"The pandemic has strained the worldwide supply of personal protective equipment, including masks, face shields and gowns, a challenge that is not unique to HCA Healthcare or any other health system in the United States," read the statement. "While we are doing everything in our power to secure additional supplies, and we are following CDC protocols for using and conserving PPE, the worldwide shortage is a reality that we are addressing with realistic, workable solutions."
Hazen said HCA has taken a number of other measures to weather the impact of the pandemic on the hospital chain including reducing discretionary spending, senior level and corporate salary cuts, and freezing certain initiatives.
The HCA Healthcare senior leadership team has taken a 30 percent pay cut and other corporate and division leaders a 10-20 percent reduction in pay through June. The company has also limited contracted labor and overtime.
"Additionally, we reduced capital spending and suspended the company’s dividend and share repurchase programs to preserve capital," he said.
Nevertheless, he said fewer people are seeking treatment at hospitals for fear of contracting the coronavirus. The reduced patient census will inevitably impact hospital staffing requirements.
"We anticipate the recovery of patient volumes will take some time. Unfortunately, over the coming weeks, we still believe there will not be enough volume, making it likely that many of our colleagues will not be able to work their normal hours," he said.
To offset the impact on staff, he said HCA's pandemic pay and quarantine pay programs, which have benefited more than 110,000 employees and were scheduled to expire May 16, will be extended through June 27.
"In addition to these pay programs, we will be evaluating certain initiatives that may be warranted – specifically with respect to staffing models, cross training staff, more effective special pay programs and consolidating services where it makes sense," Hazen said. "This means we need everyone to be flexible as we place people in areas where they are most needed."
Moving forward, Hazen said the outlook for HCA is unclear, he said.
"We expect COVID-19 will continue to affect our company in many ways until a remedy or a vaccine can be developed," he said. "This next transition comes with much uncertainty and much unpredictability - more than I have seen in my 37 years with the company. Many signs point to a world that will likely operate much differently than before. I believe there will be implications to the healthcare landscape that we could not have imagined just three months ago."
He predicts "potentially unprecedented levels of unemployment and uninsured patients. These effects require us to take a conservative approach in bringing capacity and many services back on line, but I am confident that if we do it effectively, we will emerge stronger and better prepared for the future."
This article originally appeared on the St. Pete Patch
