Nurses Win Right to Bargain at HCA Hospitals

Spohn loses Nurse Labor Cases

Registered nurses at five HCA hospitals including Corpus Christi Medical Center won the right to be represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee –Texas an affiliate of the 155,000 member National Nurses United. The local HCA nurses voted 228 to 132 to organize with 16 challenged votes not counted. HCA had recently reached an agreement with NNOC-Texas/NNU to allow open involvment of nurses to ask for a vote.

The concerns of local nurses include improving patient to staff ratios, input on patient care issues and retirement plans. The average nurse in the U.S. is 45 years old and most hospitals don’t have retirement plans comparable to other professions.

Spohn hospital has taken a more antagonistic view towards the organizing attempts. Two RN’s, Missy Gorbet and Buddy Caro had previously been suspended for circulating petitions to improve patient to nurse ratios, both filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board for unfair labor practices. The board agreed and ordered the two nurses reinstated, paid back wages totaling over $26,000 and required the hospital to expunge the charges they made from their employee records. The hospital also was required to post employee rights posters on the property.

Spohn has repeatedly scored lower on evaluations of patient care by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals than has CC Medical Center, which has consistently achieved the Commission’s highest ratings.