One thousand nurses and support staff at HCA Healthcare are set to strike today at the Riverside Community Hospital in California over concessions the hospital chain is demanding from frontline health care workers as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the US. HCA Healthcare is the largest for-profit hospital chain in the US.
Kaiser Health News reports that the nurses and support staff at HCA Healthcare, who are members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 121RN, are striking against the imposition of pay cuts and to seek an end to chronically low staffing. They are also demanding sufficient quantities of quality personal protective equipment (PPE) to enable nurses, physicians and medical staff to safely administer to patients.