HSA nurses at three hospitals win new contracts

Strike averted a week before RNs reached a new deal

By Lucy Diavolo

National Nurse magazine - Jan | Feb | March 2026 Issue

By Jan. 14, registered nurses at three South Florida hospitals owned by Healthcare Systems of America (HSA) finished voting in favor of ratifying new union contracts, winning protections to improve patient safety and nurse retention. The new agreements are for nurses at three facilities: Florida Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, and Coral Gables Hospital in Coral Gables. 

Nurses represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), the country’s largest nurses union, had been prepared to strike on Jan. 9 at all three hospitals, but the strike was called off on Jan. 8 as a deal was reached. 

“This contract is full of wins for nurses and our patients,” said Lazaro Garcia, RN in the critical care unit at Palmetto General Hospital. “We showed management we were prepared to strike to reach a deal, and now, we have the deal done and a contract that will continue to improve our hospitals.” 

Highlights of the contract include enhanced protections to reduce unsafe staffing in critical care units, an expanded safety committee with more direct nurse involvement in conversations about patient safety, and minimum across-the-board raises of 12.25 percent over the life of the contract with pay retroactive to Oct. 1, 2025.

“When we stand together, we win,” said Leroy Desance, RN in the intensive care unit at Coral Gables Hospital. “HSA wants to try to continue the same practices that Steward was using, but our new contract proves things can get better when people work together.” 

The new contracts cover the period from Jan. 13, 2026, to Jan. 13, 2029. NNOC/NNU represents more than 1,000 nurses combined at the three South Florida HSA hospitals.