\u201cIt\u2019s a community with a lot of diversity and making it a for-profit hospital, it limits our patients getting the correct help from us,\u201d said Saint Mary nurse Brenda Hernandez.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prime is based in California and has more than 50 hospitals across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaint Mary of Nazareth, a member of the Prime Healthcare family of hospitals, deeply values our nurses and respects their right to organize and be heard, just as we deeply value the safety and care of all our employees, patients and visitors,\u201d a spokesperson for Saint Mary said in a statement Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the union, several nurses who were among those leading the union campaign were fired just days after the nurses filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was practicing my federally protected right, passing out flyers to my co-workers on the sidewalk on Division Street, just spreading the good news that we had officially filed for a union,\u201d said nurse Mary Boyadjian, who worked in the emergency department. \u201cThey said I was let go because I was (soliciting) on hospital property.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Terminated](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CTC-L-st-mary-nurses-rally06_263026039.jpg\")
Terminated registered nurse Karile Thorn, left, joins dozens of nurses and supporters rallying outside St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital on May 27, 2026. (Antonio Perez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
Nurse Karlie Thorn said she was told she was fired for trespassing during her off hours. Thorn, who also worked in the emergency department, said she\u2019d been working at the hospital for about four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really puts into question how Prime really feels about its nurses,\u201d Thorn said. \u201cDo they really care about protecting their nurses?\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Saint Mary said in a statement Wednesday that the hospital cannot comment on specific personnel matters but \u201cis committed to ongoing, transparent discussions and engagement with our nurses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime has long said that its mission is to save struggling hospitals so the hospitals can continue to serve their communities. Prime has said that the eight Illinois hospitals were losing $200 million a year before Prime bought them, and that it plans to invest $250 million in the facilities.<\/p>\n
But the nurses said they\u2019ve seen problematic changes under Prime\u2019s ownership. Prime has previously faced criticism for changes<\/a> it made at other Illinois hospitals since purchasing them.<\/p>\n Hernandez said she\u2019s worked at Saint Mary for about 10 years, including through other ownership changes. The hospital has shifted ownership<\/a> three times in the last decade.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve gone through the transitions and no transition has ever been this bad,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cOther transitions, yeah, you would see changes, fine, but with Prime, from the start, it was as if we were hired in a completely new company.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the nurses hold a union election, if a majority of the nurses vote in favor of the union, Prime would then have to bargain with them in good faith over working conditions, according to processes outlined by the NLRB.\u00a0<\/p>\n