On the heels of a lawsuit claiming that Wesley Medical Center and other hospitals owned by its parent company deliberately understaff nurses, the Kansas City Star reports that nurses at Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence are up in arms over inadequate staffing.
Both Wesley and Centerpoint are owned by the Tennessee-based HCA.
The Centerpoint nurses made their case in a petition to the hospital, which is part of the HCA Midwest Health System, the Star reported.
HCA just might be forced to reckon with these staffing charges. In the Wichita-based lawsuit — which was reinstated as a class-action lawsuit by a judge last month and kicked back to federal district court in Wichita — HCA is accused of developing a computer software program that dictates nurse staffing levels at its hospitals, including Wesley, resulting in low staffing levels. The lawsuit contends that translated to inadequate care for patients, which led to injuries and deaths.
For those who like reading court copy, here is the 10th Circuit’s full opinion on the HCA class-action lawsuit