Press Release
Catholic hospitals lead nation in pediatric unit closures, new report from NNU finds
A quarter of pediatric units shut down nationally, and Catholic Big Three lead the pack of major systems
A new report from National Nurses United (NNU), the country’s largest nurses union, finds that three major Catholic hospital systems have spent the last decade leading the health care industry in the closures of pediatric care units.
The shocking new report found that, overall, 25% of pediatric units had been shut down nationally from 2014 to 2025. Among the country’s ten biggest hospital chains, three Catholic systems (Ascension, CommonSpirit, and Trinity) shuttered pediatric units at the highest rates of any major systems. The new report is available here.
“Our union’s new report is damning,” said Sandy Reding, operating room nurse at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in California, president of CNA/NNOC, and vice president of NNU. “The data shows that these major Catholic systems are shutting down health care for kids in areas where children need it most, with high rates of poverty and few other options for care. They’re making decisions based on their own spreadsheets, not the needs of our patients and our communities. Catholic health leaders say they’re united for change, but if the changes they’re united behind are shutting down pediatric units, that’s not the common good.”
“Pope Leo made clear in his recent encyclical: The best way forward is working together for the common good,” said Kristine Kittleson, RN at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin in Texas. “Unfortunately, major Catholic hospital systems have abandoned the common good in favor of their own finances. And when nurses get organized to demand better, we’re met with union-busting that stands in defiance of the Church’s own doctrines.
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), NNU’s largest affiliate, represents around 25,000 nurses at Catholic hospitals in the United States.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.