Nurses Rally Against Federal Cuts Threatening Community First Hospital

Community First Medical Center Faces Potential Service Cuts Due to Federal Funding Reductions

On Saturday, Aug. 8, a rally and community event will be held by nurses at Community First Medical Center in Chicago. The event aims to bring attention to the possible effects of federal funding cuts on the hospital, which is already grappling with ongoing staffing and equipment challenges. According to a National Nurses United (NNU) report, Community First is at risk of service reductions and closure due to its significant dependence on federal funding.

Emilia Wolczynski, a registered nurse at Community First, expressed her concerns: “It’s devastating to know Community First faces yet another challenge with the federal health care cuts – all so elected officials could line the pockets of billionaires and wealthy corporations.” She added, “At the same time, we fear that our hospital’s profit-driven owners will use the funding crisis to justify shortchanging their patients and worsening the staff recruitment and retention crisis.”

Nurses at Community First, who are affiliated with the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), have criticized the hospital management for inadequate staffing and lack of investment in patient safety. Contract negotiations are ongoing, and management has proposed cutting health insurance benefits for nurses, who are already dealing with shortages of essential supplies.

Event Details

What: Nurses ‘RED ALERT’ bus tour – Chicago stop

When: Saturday, Aug. 8

Where: Community First Medical Center, 5645 W. Addison St, Chicago, Ill. (Event on N. Major Ave.)

Free Wellness Clinic: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Rally and Speaker Program: Starts at 12 p.m.

Music and Food: Free music by DJ Cozmiika at 11 a.m. and High-Hat Second Line at 11:30 a.m. Free tacos from Cultura y Comida starting at 11 a.m.

Speakers and guests will include NNU President, Jamie Brown, RN; Margaret Polakow, RN, Community First Medical Center; Chicago Alderwoman Ruth Cruz; and Cook County Commissioner, Jessica Vasquez.

Wolczynski emphasized, “Nurses are unified in our refusal of further staffing cuts or continued equipment and facility failures. Community First administration has a responsibility to ensure that the hospital remains fully staffed, its facilities properly maintained, and its staff respected.”

Community First is among 602 hospitals identified in NNU’s “A Preventable Crisis” report as being at risk due to federal health cuts under H.R. 1, the Republican budget bill passed in 2025. The hospital’s financial vulnerabilities include:

• Medicare and Medicaid funding constitute 58 percent of Community First’s net patient revenue.
• Community First has incurred $18 million in losses from 2020 to 2024, according to Medicare Cost Reports.
• Federal cuts could result in financial losses ranging from $4,373,000 to $6,334,075, as per NNU’s analysis.

Nurses have persistently urged the owners of Community First to rectify the documented staffing and infrastructure issues at the hospital. In 2021, OSHA fined the hospital for not implementing adequate respiratory protections during the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the deaths of three nurses.

Further details on Community First’s financial challenges and the potential impact on patients can be found in this fact sheet.

The Chicago event is part of National Nurses United’s RED ALERT bus tour, which is visiting areas that are experiencing significant reductions in healthcare services due to H.R. 1. This 2025 budget bill, supported by Republicans and President Trump, cut over $1 trillion in Medicaid and Medicare funding to provide tax breaks to billionaires, enhance immigration enforcement, and fund military operations overseas.

NNU President Jamie Brown, RN, stated, “The billionaire class and their Republican puppets are gutting public health protections to make themselves richer and militarize our neighborhoods, with zero regard for working people and families struggling to survive.” She added, “Nurses refuse their deadly agenda. We’re taking the wheel and bringing our vision for a healthy society directly to patients and communities who will bear the brunt of Republican policies. We invite everyone who has felt abandoned by the political system to join us and build real working-class solidarity.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed comprehensive tax reforms to overhaul the U.S. tax system and generate revenue, which NNU strongly supports. These reforms aim to keep hospitals and health services accessible, ultimately guarantee healthcare for all through Medicare for All, and establish a society that meets everyone’s needs, including affordable housing, education, and unionized living-wage jobs. Sanders also introduced, with Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which would impose a 5 percent annual wealth tax on billionaires and invest the proceeds in working families, including reversing the H.R. 1 Medicaid cuts and expanding Medicare to cover vision, hearing, and dental care.

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National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States, with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.

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