After decades of caring for our community, retired nurses from Kalamazoo’s former Borgess Hospital are being abandoned. As of December 31, 2025, hundreds of retired nurses—many living on fixed incomes mainly from social security—will lose the health care reimbursement benefits they were promised.

Ascension, which owned Borgess until this year, sent letters informing retirees that their MediGap Reimbursement Plan will end due to the hospital’s sale to Beacon Health System. But here’s the truth: Ascension is still responsible for honoring these commitments. Nurses who gave 30, 40, even 50 years of their lives to this hospital are now facing thousands of dollars in unexpected medical expenses.

These are not just numbers. These are people like Lynn Crutcher, who served for 38 years, often at the expense of time with her own family. Nurses who once stood by our bedsides, now stand alone in a system that’s turning its back on them.

We demand that Ascension honor its legal and moral obligation to restore MediGap health care reimbursements for all eligible retired Borgess nurses. Beacon Health System must also step up and help facilitate a solution, including full transparency about who is impacted.

Sign this petition to urge Ascension and Beacon Health System to restore the health care benefits these retired nurses earned—and still deserve.