By DAN MARGOLIES

Registered nurses at 15 hospitals owned by the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain — including Research Medical Center and Menorah Medical Center — have voted to authorize a strike if contract negotiations remain at an impasse.

The 15 hospitals in Missouri, Kansas, Florida, Texas and Nevada are owned by HCA Healthcare Inc. and employ about 7,000 RNs affiliated with the National Nurses Organizing Committee, or NNOC.

The nurses voted to authorize NNOC’s negotiators to call a strike if issues raised during ongoing contract negotiations remain unresolved, according to a statement by the nurse’s union.

Those issues include nurse turnover rates, recruitment and retention, and compliance with the hospitals’ staffing grids.

Staffing grids are meant to ensure the right ratio of nurses to patients, taking into account the acuteness of the patients’ conditions.

Between them, Kansas City, Missouri, -based Research and Overland Park, Kansas, -based Menorah have more than 1,000 registered nurses. Both hospitals are part of HCA Midwest Health, which owns eight hospitals in the Kansas City area and is part of HCA Healthcare.

In 2017, Nashville-based HCA Healthcare posted a $2.22 billion profit on revenues of $43.6 billion.

Leslie Rogers, an operating room nurse at Research for 43 years and a member of NNOC’s negotiating team, said Research does not have a problem recruiting nurses. She said it has a problem retaining them.

Rogers said 400 registered nurses have left Research since the nurses’ last contract took effect three years ago. Some of them retired, but Rogers said many left because “they were disenchanted by the staffing grid not being solid.”

“What happens is the hospital sets their own staffing grid according to acuity and when the nurses report to duty it’s not being followed,” she said.

“What we’re asking them to do is to follow their own grid that they established that we want to follow. But that’s not being done,” she said.

In a statement, HCA said that Research and Menorah “deeply value our nurses and the compassionate care they provide to our patients.”

HCA said its turnover rates “are stable and reducing” and its staffing grids meet national standards.

The company said it would “not allow union negotiating tactics to come between the admiration and trust we have for our nurses.”

“Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for tactics like this to be used when a union and an employer are in contract negotiations, as is the case with this nursing union,” HCA said. “We look forward to continuing our negotiations.  Patient care will not be disrupted.”

The vote to authorize a strike does not mean the nurses will go on strike, only that if negotiations remain at an impasse, striking is an option. The nurses have been working without a contract since June 1.

The issues at play have been festering for months.

In June, registered nurses at Research staged an informational picket and rallyurging hospital management to reduce RN turnover and to comply with its staffing grids.

At the time, the union contended nurse-to-patient ratios in December 2017 showed the inpatient oncology unit at Research was 66 percent understaffed, the intensive care unit 21 percent understaffed and the orthopedic, neurology and trauma unit 52 percent understaffed.

Rogers said the union has proposed more staggered shifts as one solution to the staffing problem. She said the hospital “actually permitted a short trial and we felt that it was successful,” but the hospital discontinued it.

Contract negotiations resume next week.

Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor at KCUR in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man whose young son was found dead in a bathtub last year has pleaded no contest in the boy’s death.

In a plea agreement filed last week, 44-year-old Michael Ray Hatfield of Salina agreed to plead no contest to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of aggravated endangering of a child. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22.

The charges stem from the May 2017 death of Hatfield’s 10-month-old son, Waylon Hatfield.

Hatfield was originally charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child endangerment, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

An older brother found the child face down in a bathtub filled with water and paramedics could not revive him.

Drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the home.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. —  Saturday debate at the Kansas State Fair between the three top candidates for Kansas governor brought a nearly-packed house of supporters. The lively crowd cheered and booed throughout.

The candidates discussed taxes. Secretary of State Kris Kobach wants to go back to former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax plan, but he would like to cut more spending. Democratic challenger Laura Kelly believes the course the state is on now is working, but she also wants to cut sales tax on food. Independent candidate Greg Orman says Kansas has to grow the economy and create a strong tax base to cover priorities.

None of the candidates said they could produce a 7 1/2 percent ending balance at this point.

Other topics included: the tariffs on agriculture — put in place by President Donald Trump — and expanding Medicaid.

Democrat Laura Kelly says she will expand Medicaid and get rid of Kan-Care:

Secretary of State Kris Kobach fired back at Kelly with his response against any expansion:

Independent candidate Greg Orman is also in favor of expanding Medicaid in a reasonable way:

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — An elementary school teacher in Kansas City, Kansas, has been charged with sexual solicitation of a minor.

42-year-old Jason Crum, of Shawnee, was charged Friday on a felony count of sexual exploitation of a child. He was released from jail after posting $100,000 bond.

The charge alleges that between January 2014 and January 2015, Crum attempted to convince a child under the age of 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

Crum is listed on the Kansas City, Kansas, school district’s website as an elementary school teacher.

A district spokeswoman says officials had recently been made aware of Crum’s arrest and placed him on administrative leave.

Court records do not list an attorney for Crum.

LAWRENCE — The 2018 recipient of the Fred Ellsworth Medallion for extraordinary service to the University of Kansas is Bernadette Gray-Little, the university’s 17th chancellor, who stepped down in 2017 after eight years of leadership.

According to a media release, the KU Alumni Association will honor her Sept. 14 during the fall meeting of the Association’s national board of directors. Since 1975, the medallions have recognized KU volunteers who have continued the tradition of service established by Ellsworth, a 1922 KU graduate who was the Alumni Association’s chief executive for 39 years, retiring in 1963.

During her tenure as chancellor, Gray-Little led the record-breaking $1.6 billion Far Above fundraising campaign and led the successful proposal and implementation of new admissions standards and the launch of a new undergraduate curriculum, KU Core, both aimed to increase student retention and graduation rates. From 2012 through 2016, KU’s freshman class experienced growth for five straight years.

Gray-Little oversaw the physical transformation of KU in 50 capital improvement projects totaling $700 million in Lawrence as well as on the Edwards Campus in Overland Park and KU Medical Center campuses in Kansas City, Wichita and Salina. Most notable is the Central District in Lawrence. Other highlights include the expansion of the schools of Engineering and Medicine, including the construction of the new Health Education Building at KU Medical Center; a new home for the School of Business; new residence halls; and the restoration of Jayhawk Boulevard.

KU also made historic strides in research, achieving National Institutes of Health designations for the Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the KU Cancer Center and Frontiers, the KU Clinical and Translational Science Institute. KU is one of only 26 U.S. universities to house three NIH-designated research centers. The research enterprise also expanded with the recruitment of 12 Foundation Distinguished Professors, a key component of the Bold Aspirations strategic plan to enhance research initiatives on campus.

“We are pleased to recognize Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little with the Fred Ellsworth Medallion,” said Heath Peterson, president of the KU Alumni Association. “One of the most visible and important parts of her legacy at KU was making a commitment early in her tenure to establishing a strategic enrollment management plan. The plan was anchored by a data-driven, highly customized approach to recruitment and supported by a new and very robust four-year renewable scholarship model. The results from this transformation over the previous eight years speak for themselves. Of course, there are many other significant milestones, but enrollment growth stands out for me because it is incredibly important to the health of the entire institution.”

Since 1975, 157 KU alumni and friends have received the Fred Ellsworth Medallion.

HARVEY COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 7a.m. Saturday in Harvey County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 GMC Acadia driven by Max Turnbull, Jr., 77, Vermillion, was westbound on U.S. 50 nine miles west of Newton.

The vehicle crossed the center line into the east bound lanes. An eastbound 2017 Freightliner semi driven by Angel Zatare, 22, Reseda, CA., in an attempt to avoid striking the GMC crossed the center line and drove into the west bound lanes.

The GMC then drove back into the westbound lane and collided with the semi.

A passenger in the GMC Darlene Turnbull, 73, Vermillion, was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to the Sedgwick County Forensics Center. Max Turnbull was transported to the hospital in Wichita.

Zatare and a passenger were not injured. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A judge has ordered two men to stand trial in the shooting deaths of a man and woman in Colorado Springs.

20-year-old Nashid Rayon Rivers and 19-year-old Marquis Dantre Hazard are charged with murder in the deaths of Serena Lee Garcia and Marcus Howard Denton.

Garcia was 21 and lived in Parker. Denton was 20 and was a native of Atchison, Kansas. Their bodies were found in a car on April 21.

Investigators testified that Rivers’ brother told police the defendants planned to steal marijuana from the victims.

In a hearing Friday, District Judge Larry Edward Schwartz noted Rivers and Hazard each blamed the other for the shootings. Schwartz said the evidence was sufficient for both to be tried.

Another hearing is scheduled for Nov. 13.