In a recent Q1 earnings call, HCA executives told investors they have seen turnover rates decrease close to pre-pandemic levels and registered nurse hiring increase. However, in Q4, a large number of HCA hires were made up of new graduate nurses.
HCA’s reliance on new graduate nurses to fill staff vacancies may be concerning — media reports recently exposed that HCA’s RN training programs force new RNs to stay with HCA for 2 years or face thousands of dollars of training repayment debt, in a scheme that some liken to “indentured servitude.”
SEIU’s Care Crisis report documented short-staffing at HCA and suggested it may be part of an intentional corporate strategy to boost profits that contributes to patient care failures, as well as caregiver burnout and turnover, at the healthcare giant that boasted $5.6 billion in profits in 2022.
Last month, nurses and other hospital workers from HCA hospitals in California, Florida, Texas, and Kansas rallied at HCA headquarters in Nashville during the annual shareholder meeting to call on HCA to address short-staffing at its more than 180 hospitals across the country.