Owners of Hospital Conglomerate Made Billions as Health Care Workers Lacked PPE
“While key workers put their lives on the line to keep the country running, and mutual aid groups desperately tried to plug the holes created by decades of cuts to our social fabric, billionaires and big corporate interests have made a killing.”
HCA has reaped enormous profits by squeezing workers and cutting costs, while showering top management with lavish compensation.
HCA made nearly $4 billion in profits in 2020 during the pandemic, up more than $200 million from 2019.
At the same time the company cut supply costs by $112 million, even though workers spoke out for months about inadequate PPE and having to reuse single use equipment like masks and gloves.
HCA’s staffing levels were 29 percent below the national average. HCA’s low staffing levels have been linked to poor patient outcomes.
For example, low staffing levels at HCA’s Colorado hospitals may have contributed to patient death as well as other preventable harm.
https://truthout.org/articles/owners-of-hospital-conglomerate-made-billions-as-health-care-workers-lacked-ppe/
Capitalism's for-profit health care s everybody, except the Capitalists, by design.
so basically we have price gouging during the pandemic and the freeze. But we catch those little grocery guys who price gouge water during hurricanes.