ASHEVILLE - A nurse union negotiator has said HCA HealthCare, the owner of Mission Health, has "given some ground" on key issues — but nurses are still preparing for a potential strike over staffing numbers at Western North Carolina's biggest hospital.
Local activists including WNC Workers Assembly, meanwhile, are rallying residents and raising money to help nurses in case of a strike.
Mission nurses unionized in 2020, a year after HCA — a for-profit Tennessee corporation and the biggest hospital company in the country − bought the nonprofit Mission for $1.9 billion. Nurses and management failed to reach an agreement by the July 2 expiration of their first contract, raising the probability of a strike. Speaking July 19 to the Citizen Times, nurse bargaining unit member Mark Klein said a July 16 meeting with HCA negotiators brought some changes.
"When we last negotiated, HCA did make some movements in our direction, and while I was predicting that a strike is likely, now I'm wondering if they're willing to move a little more and we'll settle without a strike," Klein said.
Asked about Klein's characterization of the meeting, Mission/HCA spokesperson Nancy Lindell struck a conciliatory tone.
"The hospital is working hard to meet the concerns of our nurses on a number of issues, ranging from parking and uniforms to the more central issues of workplace safety, staffing and compensation. We continue to be hopeful that the union will realize their voice has been heard by Mission Hospital, and begin to bring these negotiations to a positive conclusion," she said.
If a strike does happen, Lindell said the hospital will remain open. In a July 3 statement she said the hospital had already begun hiring strike nurses.
Should nurses strike, federal law requires they give their employer 10 days notice. Local union leaders have said a strike would only last one day, though the hospital could lock them out longer.
The next round of negotiations is scheduled for Aug. 2.
Workers at a total of 17 unionized HCA facilities across multiple states are now negotiating contracts. In a June 28 video posted to Mission Nurses United Facebook page, Klein had said strikes across multiple hospitals could happen, though in his July 19 comments he said none had gone so far yet as to take a vote to strike. They are, however, asking nurses to sign strike pledges.
In terms of Mission's 1,600 unionized and non-unionized nurses whom the bargaining unit is representing, Klein, a 59-year-old vascular access nurse, said they are "close to a majority" who have signed pledges.
The company has agreed to take measures, such as metal detectors to prevent violence against staff, he said. But it has rejected a "patients first" initiative to boost care and against what nurses say is predatory billing. Lindell, the hospital spokesperson, declined to comment on the initiative.
Salaries and staffing major concerns
It is pay and staffing that are most expensive to HCA and the company has pushed those items back, Klein said. While the company has given some ground, staffing could be the breaking point, he said, noting how federal regulators had threatened to take away Medicare and Medicaid payments and put the hospital under an "immediate jeopardy" designation, saying problems in the emergency room and other areas led to patient deaths.
Among several lawsuits against HCA, one from Attorney General Josh Stein has accused the company of failing to maintain levels of care in the ER and cancer treatment as promised when the bought Mission.
"The issue that we would be striking over is staffing. It's staffing that created the immediate jeopardy, staffing that's creating the constant turnover and it's staffing that's putting nurses out in front of the hospital more than anything," he said.
Local activist groups outside the union, meanwhile, have raised more than $6,000 and have set a goal of $10,000 for a nurse strike fund. Along with the WWA, the Asheville Democratic Socialists of America and Asheville Food and Beverage United are behind multiple efforts to support the nurses and plan to canvass businesses to sign a petition and put up signs. The Citizen Times reached out to a canvassing organizer.
A spokesperson for National Nurses United, the California-based union under which Mission nurses are organized, said those types of actions outside the union were not common but were "an incredible demonstration of community support."
"I think the nurses are grateful for it," said NNU spokesperson Lucy Diavolo, "because that's who they're fighting for, the people, who are donating right now and who they take care of when they're in the hospital."
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
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