[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H4111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HONORING NURSES

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of all the nurses, 
the healers who tirelessly serve patients across our Nation. I thank 
them for their dedicated service to heal, care for, and serve people 
across all our communities.
  Our country is facing a dire shortage of healthcare workers. Whether 
nurses, primary care physicians, psychiatrists, behavioral health 
specialists, or technicians, you name it, the growing shortage of 
workers is exacerbating the already high cost of healthcare, making 
high-quality care that much harder.
  Right now, in my own district, thousands of nurses and healthcare 
workers are on strike at a hospital owned and operated by the Bon 
Secours Health System, a $3.8 billion not-for-profit based in Maryland 
that owns or manages more than 20 health-related institutions in seven 
States.
  The nurses at St. Vincent hospital are striking on quality of life 
issues: overtime, mandatory on-call, and, ironically, healthcare for 
them and their families.
  The struggle these workers and these patients are facing is on my 
mind every minute, and I continue to urge a real dialogue from the 
company. Go back to the table and bargain to get our nurses back on the 
job peacefully and productively.
  Meanwhile, I urge my colleagues to reauthorize title VIII of the 
Nursing Workforce Act and amend the Public Health Service Act to 
establish direct care registered nurse-to-patient staffing ratio 
requirements in hospitals.
  Finally, Congress must do more to protect and improve DSH payments 
that help hospitals provide charity care for vulnerable, uninsured 
patients, so many of whom come into St. Vincent hospital.

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