The Minnesota Nurses Association purchased and forgave $2.6 million in medical debt for 1,800 families, according to the union.
The MNA said the effort was meant as a way to repay the community.
"Nurses were encouraged to give back to the community after all the support they received during the 2016 strikes against [Minneapolis-based] Allina Health," the union said in a news release.
The MNA said it collaborated with Rye, N.Y.-based RIP Medical Debt, which it learned about through a report on HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" show, to locate and acquire past due accounts of the 1,800 families.
In total, the union said it paid $28,000 to resolve the $2.6 million medical debt, as RIP Medical Debt, like a collection agency, can acquire the debt at part of the value.
"Nurses are happy to allow these families to be free of their debt," Mary Turner, president of the MNA, said in the release. "They've had this medical debt hanging over their heads for two years or more. It's cost them their credit, pushed them toward bankruptcy, and hurt them in so many ways."
According to the union, the accounts had long been written off by the hospital or original provider. "These accounts were to be sold to an agency that would collect on them to profit from the debt. Many of the accounts came from patients who needed to seek multiple, expensive treatments from their provider," the MNA added.
The union said credit agencies received notification the debt has been cleared, and consumers will soon receive notification.
More than 4,000 nurses at Minneapolis-based Allina went on strike over health benefits in June 2016. Nurses went on strike again over the same issue last September.