Two local public hearings are scheduled next month to help California Attorney General Kamala Harris decide whether a six-hospital chain including facilities in Daly City and Moss Beach should be sold to a private corporation fiercely opposed by some unions and officials who fear it prioritizes profits over care.

The bitter cold did not deter a group of more than 20 nurses from holding signs that read “Exhausted nurses = unsafe care,” “End mandatory overtime,” and “When nurses float, patient safety sinks,” at the corner of Palmer Avenue and Ter Heun Drive in an informational picketing on the morning of Thursday, December 11. Donning hats and mittens to guard against the off-and-on raindrops and snow flurries, the group waved and smiled to passersby at the intersection located steps away from their workplace, Falmouth Hospital.