16 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6
NEWS BRIEFS
COLORADO
R
egistered nurses at HCA
HealthONE Swedish, also known
as Swedish Medical Center, in
Englewood, Colo., voted to join
National Nurses Organizing
Committee/National Nurses United
(NNOC/NNU), the country's largest nurses
union, in an election held on July 1 and 2,
2026.
"This is a huge victory for the nurses at
our hospital and across the HCA system
nationwide," said Christina Michas, RN in
the general rehabilitation unit at Swedish.
"We showed HCA that, even when they try
to illegally interfere with our elections,
nurses will hold them accountable and keep
fighting until we win the union protections
we need."
The second election comes after the
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
ruled that the employer, HCA Healthcare,
the country's largest hospital system, ille-
gally interfered with a previous union
election held in 2024. That now-invalidated
2024 election was marred by illegal interfer-
ence by the employer.
Nearly 800 nurses work at Swedish, and,
since the first election, staff turnover at the
facility has been so high that only about only
one-third of nurses who worked at the hos-
pital in 2024 still work there today. Nurses
at Swedish say the high turnover is emblem-
atic of the issues they face at the facility and
are excited to address those issues in bar-
gaining.
With their election victory in hand,
nurses are able to start negotiations on their
first union contract, which could address
issues that are driving nurses away from the
facility and endangering patients.
HCA has appealed the NLRB's ruling to
hold a second election, the one now won by
the nurses. This is another nasty attempt by
HCA to trample nurses' union rights. NNOC
intends to stand by nurses until the end.
NNOC now represents nearly 800 nurses
at HCA HealthONE Swedish, a 504-bed
Level 1 trauma center. CNA/NNOC already
represents more than 10,000 HCA nurses at
19 facilities in seven states from coast to
coast.
—Staff report
HCA Swedish nurses unionize
