The National Nurses Union organized protests of HCA hospitals’ preparedness for the coronavirus outbreak outside their hospitals in Florida, North Carolina and Texas.
The protests taking place outside six hospitals on Thursday are small gatherings that respect social distancing guidelines that halt groups of larger than 10 people from convening, according to Bradley Van Waus, National Nurses Union spokesman.
The nurses union alleges that nurses working at HCA hospitals have needed to work without proper protective equipment and have not been notified when they have encountered a patient infected with coronavirus. HCA hospitals did not respond to request for comment.
Mr. Van Waus said the handful of organizers demonstrated outside each of the hospitals mainly from 6:30 a.m. until 8 a.m., and surveyed medical professionals changing shifts fighting the coronavirus. He said he hopes the protests send a signal to the hospitals that it’s high time to focus on nurses’ care.
“When nurses aren’t protected, patients aren’t protected,” Mr. Van Waus said. “We’ll keep advocating until nurses get what they need.”
The nurses union has 150,000 members nationwide, including 10,000 registered nurses at HCA Hospitals. Mr. Van Waus said the protesters carried “COVID-19 checklist” posters with them as they gathered outside the hospitals.
“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 Jean Ross, National Nurses United president, in a statement.
