Riverside Community Hospital RN Kathy Montanino is quoted in this explosive New York Times story. The reporting reveals that HCA took $1 billion in bailout money but still failed to protect Nurses, and even threatened layoffs if they refused to accept wage freezes.

Hospitals Got Bailouts and Furloughed Thousands While Paying C.E.O.s Millions

HCA Healthcare is one of the world’s wealthiest hospital chains. It earned more than $7 billion in profits over the past two years. It is worth $36 billion. It paid its chief executive $26 million in 2019.

But as the coronavirus swept the country, employees at HCA repeatedly complained that the company was not providing adequate protective gear to nurses, medical technicians and cleaning staff. Last month, HCA executives warned that they would lay off thousands of nurses if they didn’t agree to wage freezes and other concessions.

A few weeks earlier, HCA had received about $1 billion in bailout funds from the federal government, part of an effort to stabilize hospitals during the pandemic. Read more at nytimes.com.