On a mid-July morning in Chicago a small group of volunteers from IMPACT in Healthcare marched into the 46-story office building that houses the American Hospital Association (AHA). The volunteers, of which I was a part, consisted of individuals that had traveled from both coasts alongside local nurses who were joining in before they started their shifts later that same day. Regardless of origin, all of us were tired of the AHA failing to live up to their own mission statement, which says that they strive to “advance the health of all individuals and communities.” Their actions speak to the contrary as evidenced by the fact that so far in 2023 they have spent over $6 million dollars lobbying against safe staffing ratios and the prevention of workplace violence. It’s clear that the AHA has little interest in advancing the health of patients or the individuals on the frontline of healthcare and we wanted them to explain their stance.
Over the past several months, IMPACT had attempted to contact the AHA but the phone and email requests for a meeting were ignored. In light of this, a group of healthcare workers and labor rights activists opted to travel to Chicago and ask for a meeting in person. We showed up to the front desk at 8:30am with a letter for the AHA and were promptly asked by building security to leave. Our response to that was staging a sit-in in the lobby, displaying protest signs and expressing our grievances loudly through chants. Employees shuffled past us or peered around corners looking to get a glimpse of what all the commotion was about. Some stopped and took pictures, others quickly tried to avoid an uncomfortable situation. News cameras filmed our rally. The footage was posted on social media. The AHA wants to pretend that we don’t exist but for 20 minutes we were there, we were seen, and we will be remembered.
Why did I choose to participate in this sit-in? I’m a nurse and I’ve spent the last 12 years working in healthcare. Nobody understands the environment of direct-patient care better than we do, and we deserve to be heard when it comes to shaping the future of healthcare. It would have been much easier to stay at home instead of trekking 759 miles from Philadelphia to Chicago, but somebody has to speak up. All the rights that we have as workers are because previous generations of workers fought for us. It’s only right that we do the same. It’s a painful and egregious fact that in 2020, the healthcare sector accounted for 75% of all incidents of workplace violence. As Angela Davis said: “I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept.”
There’s an obvious conflict of interest when the AHA collects hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and spends the money on issues that solely benefit hospital executives. The events of Monday morning had to happen. The AHA doesn’t support the safety of healthcare workers or patients, and we need to call them out on it.
IMPACT in Healthcare’s AHA Fact Sheet
AHA Mission and Vision Statements