RNs in Texas and Kansas at three Ascension hospitals will participate in historic one-day strikes on Tuesday, June 27 to protest the health care giant’s refusal to address its endemic staffing crisis.

Texas and Kansas nurses employed by Ascension will rally at the health care giant’s headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., to pressure executives to reverse unsafe staffing practices that prioritize profits over patient safety.

Nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph hospital in Wichita, Kan., have voted 90% yes to authorize a strike, joining nurses at nearby St. Francis in what could be the first nurses strikes in Kansas history.

Thousands of registered nurse members of National Nurses United will hold a national day of action to demand that their employers address the current nationwide staffing crisis by ensuring there is safe staffing on all units at all times and that nurses have the resources they need to care for their patients.

RNs at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, La., will join community partners to hold a public hearing on Saturday, June 10, to raise issues with the closure of their facility.

A strike at ASMCA would be the first nurses strike in an acute care setting and the largest nurses strike in Texas history.

In a vote concluded May 31, nurses voted 93% yes to authorize the strike. Nurses at the hospital, which is owned by Ascension, say they’ve had enough of the company’s practices putting profits before patients.