Nurse describes deaths, chronic understaffing at Steward hospitals as Vermont lawmakers consider private‑equity oversight

Ellen McGinnis, a nurse at Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, told the House Committee on Health Care that chronic understaffing and corporate cost‑cutting at Steward Health Care hospitals led to preventable patient harm and deaths.

McGinnis, who said she has worked at Saint Elizabeth's for 26 years and represents 2,800 Massachusetts Nurses Association members at Steward hospitals, said Steward employees provide "more than 90% of the care delivered at Steward Hospitals." She told the committee: "The corporate... commodification of health care is the guiding at those of Steward. It's the 1 and only priority. And it has led to horrific suffering" for patients, staff and communities.

McGinnis detailed multiple incidents she said were tied to understaffing and equipment shortages, including emergency‑department…