Baltimore Nurses to Expose Ascension's Controversial Investments Monday

Nurses and Community Allies to Highlight Controversial Ascension Investments

On Monday, September 15, registered nurses from Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, will gather for a rally and press conference. The event, organized by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), aims to challenge Ascension Health's investment strategies.

Accompanied by community supporters, including members of the local Catholic community, the nurses will address the contents of a forthcoming report by NNU. This report reveals that Ascension's investments, valued in the hundreds of millions, clash with the company's publicly projected image as a Catholic institution committed to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Event Details:

What: Press conference by Baltimore nurses on Ascension's investment practices

When: Monday, Sept. 15 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time

Where: Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital, 900 S. Caton Ave, Baltimore, Md.

"We hope this is a wake-up call to the Catholic Church’s leadership that Ascension is far from the Catholic values it pretends to practice,” stated Nicki Horvat, RN from the neonatal intensive care unit at Ascension St. Agnes. "As union nurses who have lived Ascension’s hypocrisy, on our shifts and at the bargaining table, it’s still shocking sometimes to see just how far Ascension is from practicing what they preach. We want Ascension to do better: start by disclosing its investment holdings and then divest from these harmful corporations.”

The report titled "Rejecting the Call: How Ascension’s Unethical and Socially Irresponsible Investments Contravene Catholic Social Teaching," is scheduled for release on September 15. It highlights Ascension's financial engagements in sectors involved in armaments, addictive substances, labor law violations, human rights abuses, and environmentally harmful activities. These investments reportedly breach guidelines set by the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Representing over 600 registered nurses at Saint Agnes, NNOC/NNU has been in negotiations with Ascension Saint Agnes nurses in Baltimore for more than 18 months. The nurses staged a historic strike in July to protest management's inaction on crucial issues including patient care, safe staffing, and high turnover rates.

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