Chicago and Olympia Fields Nurses Walk Out for One Day at Two Prime Healthcare Hospitals

Nurses at two Prime Healthcare hospitals in the Chicago area walked off the job for one day on Thursday, joining a strike that stretched across three states over pay, staffing and a first union contract.

The walkout hit Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago's Ukrainian Village neighborhood and Olympia Fields Hospital in the southern suburbs. Both hospitals are owned by Prime Healthcare. Nurses picketed outside each location Thursday morning, and organizers billed the action as a one-day strike rather than an open-ended walkout.

The nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth voted to unionize in June and have been negotiating with hospital management since then over their first contract. Registered nurse Elena Davis said the union's demands center on staffing levels and working conditions.

"We are pushing for safer working conditions in the hospital and a clear contract that will allow us to retain the skilled nurses that we need to properly care for our patients," Davis said.

Union organizers also allege that hospital management fired nurses who were involved in the unionization effort, though the hospital has not addressed that specific claim publicly. The strike ties into a broader labor action against Prime Healthcare that includes hospitals in other states, part of what nurses describe as a pattern of understaffing across the company's facilities.

Mayor Brandon Johnson stopped by Saint Mary of Nazareth Thursday to stand with the striking nurses.

"As a proud union town, at a moment in which affordability is the top issue for families across America, it's unconscionable that this for-profit entity has placed profit over the needs of people, and so I'm encouraging our nurses and the entire city of Chicago to stand with our nurses to ensure they have a fair contract," Johnson said.

A spokesperson for Prime Healthcare said the hospital intends to keep negotiating.

"Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital is committed to bargaining in good faith with the union representing some of its nurses, with the goal of reaching an agreement that supports our employees while protecting our ability to provide safe, high-quality care to the patients and community we serve," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Hospital administrators said the one-day strike would not disrupt patient care. Saint Mary of Nazareth remained open Thursday and said it kept the facility staffed throughout the walkout.

The strike landed the same week Prime Healthcare announced it is shutting down labor and delivery services at three hospitals in the Chicago area. Nurses on the picket line Thursday pointed to that announcement as further evidence of a company prioritizing cost cutting over patient services. Prime Healthcare said the closures were necessary because of declining birth volumes and staffing shortages in obstetric units.

The union representing the Saint Mary of Nazareth nurses has not announced whether it plans additional strikes if a contract agreement isn't reached. Bargaining sessions between the union and hospital management are expected to continue in the coming weeks, with no date yet set for when a new contract might be finalized.