National Nurses United

"I felt sort of sick to my stomach," recalled Curry. "I kept thinking to myself, 'Why would this happen like this, so close to Christmas?'" She couldn't stop worrying about the hospital's vulnerable patients, most of whom had been relying on Providence for years, could not pay, and had no other options. "Where will these people go?" Curry said she felt compelled to speak out about the proposed closure. As a Catholic, she expected Ascension to abide by its stated mission: "We commit ourselves to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable." "It's hurtful to see them abandoning their mission," said Curry. She said it feels like Ascension is perpetrating a fraud by calling itself a Catholic nonprofit when it acts like a profit-motivated entity, not one motivated by service. Its hypocrisy was obvious to everyone. When members of the hospital's own 12-member board of directors voiced opposition to the closure, Ascension responded by firing the bulk of the board. The nurses were quick to respond to news of the closure and held a press conference outside the hospital to let the public know what was happening. Curry agreed to speak. "That was really frightening. I didn't realize that it was that big. I didn't know the media was going to be there," she recalled. "Then I realized: This is not some rally and then you go home and that is it. This is something serious and has a profound effect on the commu- nity, so you are going to have to speak up. Once I realized that, it became sort of easier. I knew what I believed in and I know what I was fighting for… and there wasn't going to be a camera to intimi- date me." With the nurses leading the way, a strong, determined, and very vocal movement of community, faith, and labor activists emerged to keep Providence Hospital open. As the voices in the street grew louder, City Hall was forced to act. City leaders held two public hear- ings. "I thought they were joking when they told me I was going to speak first, but I was the first person," said Curry. "Everybody and their mother was looking at me. I was a little nervous, but I knew I had the attention of the council and I wanted them to hear what needs to be said from a nursing perspective." It was from Curry and other nurses and caregivers that city lead- ers learned how Ascension was manipulating policy to make sure inpatient numbers were low, even though the need for services remained high. They heard about Ascension's decision to close the labor and delivery unit at Providence, even as Washington D.C. suf- fers one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, 7.1 per 1,000 live births in 2016. The nurses brought to light the exorbitant compensation packages for Ascension executives, such as C.E.O. Anthony Tersigni's $17.6 million in earnings in 2014. The nurses also laid bare claims that Ascension didn't have the money to keep the hospital open, pointing out the chain made $1.6 billion profit in the first three quarters of 2018. Nurses from nearby MedStar Washington Hospital Center also spoke out about the closure. They explained how the already crowd- ed emergency room at their hospital would not be able to handle the 50,000 emergency room patients that Providence treats each year. With public pressure mounting, the D.C. Council and the mayor approved an emergency measure requiring hospitals and health care facilities, such as Providence Hospital, to get approval from the State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA} before closing. It was Curry who joined in the group that sat down to talk with the mayor about why it was so important to keep Providence Hospi- tal open. "I did feel empowered, I felt like [Mayor Bowser] needed to be informed," said Curry. "When you are coming into my arena, the health care arena, I am going to school you whether you are the mayor, the president, or whatever." No matter what happens with the hospital, Curry said it is impor- tant that the nurses' voices were heard and that she learned so much in the process. She was heartened to see so many nurses at her side fighting on behalf of the people of east D.C. "I think if they close that hospital, it's going to be the worst deci- sion that anybody ever made. I think people are going to die," she said. "But nobody, not the council, the mayor, the health agency can say, 'We had no idea.' They all know; we told them." Rachel Berger is an NNU communications specialist. O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 17 "This is not some rally and then you go home and that is it. This is something serious and has a profound effect on the community, so you are going to have to speak up... There wasn't going to be a camera to intimidate me."

• Cover