Dr. Abdul El-Sayed will join June 13 community event highlighting health care cuts that endanger Beacon Kalamazoo, 600+ hospitals nationwide

Kalamazoo registered nurses, who are members of Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) and its parent union National Nurses United (NNU), will hold a rally and community event on Saturday, June 13 to demand long-term solutions to maintain services at Beacon Kalamazoo Hospital and advance nurses’ Vision for a Healthy Society.

Beacon Kalamazoo Hospital, which, according to NNU’s analysis of Medicare Cost reports and Definitive Healthcare reports, receives more than half of its net patient revenue from Medicaid and Medicare, faces significant financial challenges as a result of the federal budget bill (H.R. 1) passed last year. As a result of H.R. 1 and other federal cuts, NNU estimates a loss to Beacon Kalamazoo’s income of $9.6 million to $15 million annually.

“I’ve put my life blood, sweat, and tears into Beacon Kalamazoo and it’s horrible to know that it is endangered by the health care cuts in H.R. 1,” said Beacon Kalamazoo registered nurse Cindy Evans. “Nurses condemn the funneling of our health care dollars into tax cuts for billionaires and funding endless wars abroad. What’s happening in our country makes me scared, but I’m also hopeful because I know our community will stand together to fight for a better future. We aren’t just here to protect our hospital, but also to win our Vision for a Healthy Society that includes Medicare for All and all the policies that will put back power in the working people – and not the billionaires.”

What: Beacon Kalamazoo Hospital nurses ‘RED ALERT’ rally and community event
When: June 13, 2026 | Free wellness checks from 11 a.m.; free tacos and live music from 11 a.m.; program/rally begins at 12 p.m.
Where: Bronson Park, 200 S Rose St., Kalamazoo, Mich.
Speakers and guests include: 

• NNU President and Beacon Kalamazoo RN Jamie Brown, Beacon Kalamazoo RN Cindy Evans, and MNA President Aaron McCormick, RN
• Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, physician and author; Celia Keenan-Bolger, Tony Award-winning actor; Austin Brown, president of South-Central Michigan Area Labor Council; Bill Farmer, chairperson of Michigan For Single Payer Healthcare and co-chair of Southwest Michigan DSA Medicare for All Working Group

Musical performances by: Great Lakes Brass Band and The Willrock Brothers 

"Our collective pain has been exacerbated by the massive health care cuts and billionaire tax breaks from H.R. 1. This rally is about standing up to a system built for profit instead of patients and fighting for healthcare that centers dignity, trust, and care for everyone,” said guest speaker Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. “It’s nurses and the people vs the billionaires and oligarchs. I'm proud to have earned the endorsement of National Nurses United, and I will always stand with them, here at the Red Alert Rally in Kalamazoo, at hospitals across the country at risk of closure, or anywhere they are fighting for us."

Beacon’s patient population is expected to face increased challenges to accessing care, as  nearly 85 percent receive care through Medicaid and Medicare, according to the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. They will undoubtedly be hit with a double punch as H.R. 1 is slated to cut SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) by $186 billion dollars over the next ten years; 14 percent of Kalamazoo County residents face food insecurity.        

More information on the financial vulnerability of Beacon Kalamazoo Hospital and potential impacts to patient care is available here.

‘RED ALERT’ tour offers the union nurse vision for how to make America healthy:

The June 13 event is part of National Nurses United’s RED ALERT tour, which is travelling to communities facing a drastic reduction in the quantity and quality of health care services as a result of H.R. 1, the budget bill that cut more than a trillion Medicaid and Medicare dollars to give billionaires tax breaks, militarize immigration enforcement, and fund endless wars abroad. 

Nurses will be taking their alternative Vision for a Healthy Society directly to the patients and working-class communities they serve. To date, RED ALERT has visited communities in Glendale, Oceanside, Alameda, and Oroville in California; and Minneapolis, Minn. This is the first stop in Michigan. NNU researchers have identified more than 600 nonprofit and community hospitals across the country that are in a similar position to Beacon Kalamazoo. 

“Nurses reject the deadly agenda of the billionaire class and their Republican puppets,” said NNU President Jamie Brown, RN a critical care nurse at Beacon Kalamazoo. “We’re taking the wheel and bringing our vision for a healthy society directly to patients and communities who will bear the brunt of Republican policies. We invite everyone who has felt abandoned by the political system to join us and build real working-class solidarity.”

Senator Bernie Sanders has released comprehensive tax proposals to change the U.S. tax system and raise trillions in revenue, which NNU strongly endorses to keep hospitals and health services accessible, eventually guarantee health care for all through Medicare for All, and build the pillars for a society that takes care of everyone’s needs, including affordable housing, education, and unionized living-wage jobs. He also recently introduced, alongside Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17), the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which would establish a five percent annual wealth tax on billionaires and invest the revenue in working families, including reversing the H.R. 1 Medicaid cuts, and expanding Medicare to include vision, hearing, and dental. 

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.