National Nurses United

J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6 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 11 contract that provides incentive for nurses and health care workers to stay at the bed- side, staffing that meets the patients' needs, and RNs' right to advocate for their patients without fear of retaliation. "Nurses and the care we provide are the heart and soul, the foundation, of our hospi- tals," said Michelle Gaffney, an intensive care unit RN at Shasta Regional Medical Center. "In order to do our jobs well, we need safe RN staffing and we need a strong contract to not just attract but keep experi- enced nurses. Prime is not investing in us nurses and health care workers and actually retaliating against some of us when we speak up, so we are joining forces across the system to let them know we mean business and are willing to strike together to win bet- ter working conditions and standards." The demands of the nurses and health care workers who were on strike on Sept. 3 echo the concerns of registered nurses at three Prime facilities who have been organiz- ing to join NNOC: Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Ill.; Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, Ill.; and Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston, Maine. Nurses at these two hospitals filed their petition for a union election with the National Labor Rela- tions Board (NLRB) on Aug. 24. After nurses filed for their union election, Prime wasted no time illegally retaliating. Management suspended six nurses at Olympia Fields and eventually fired two of those six, while one nurse was fired at Saint Francis. On Sept. 3, the day of the four strikes at other Prime facilities, Olympia Fields nurses announced that they would hold a one-day strike on Sept. 15 to protest the administration's retaliation against nurses who speak up and fight for their patients. In solidarity with the Olympia Fields nurses, nurses and health care work- ers at three Prime facilities—Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center, West Anaheim Medical Center, and Shasta Regional Med- ical Center—announced that they would hold sympathy strikes on the same day. In addition, nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth and CMMC held informational pickets on Sept. 15 in solidarity with the nurse col- leagues at Olympia Fields. In total, more than 2,800 nurses and health care workers struck or picketed on Sept. 15. "We are so proud to win our union election. We fought hard for this victory because we want to give our patients the best care," said Darlene Estrada-Smith, RN in the outpatient surgery unit at Olympia Fields Hospital. —Chuleenan Svetvilas and Lucy Diavolo Sub-prime Practices Prime Healthcare, which is headquartered in Ontario, Calif. and had historically owned hospitals in Southern California, began in the 2010s to aggressively purchase facilities outside of California, venturing into Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, the East Coast, and even New England. Led by CEO Prem Reddy, a physician, Prime has a track record of acquiring hospitals and then cutting services after it promised to maintain them. For example, less than two months after it bought St. Mary's Hospital in Kankakee, Ill. in March 2025, Prime shut down obstetrics, gynecology, childbirth, and delivery services and voluntarily gave up the facility's Level II trauma designation. The county's state's attorney filed for an injunction to restore services and alleged that Prime was dishon- est about keeping those services open for 18 to 24 months after the purchase. Prime has also been the subject of numerous federal investigations and party to more than $100 million worth of settlements for health care fraud, including submit- ting false claims to Medicare. Some of the facilities are owned by the for-profit Prime Healthcare corporation, while others are owned by a nonprofit Prime Healthcare Foundation. Critics believe that Reddy is using the nonprofit side to funnel business to firms owned by members of the Reddy family, with $104 million in 2024 alone going to management, service, and consulting fees according to its tax returns. For more information, visit www.crimehealthcare.org. Shasta Regional Olympia Fields Saint Mary's Regional

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