FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Sept. 4, 2020
CONTACT: Renée Saldaña, [email protected]
Current and Former Caregivers at Prime St. Francis Medical Center Picket Over Massive Staff Cuts that Put Safety of Patients and Workers in Jeopardy
Since Prime Healthcare Takeover a Month Ago, as Many as One-Third of Staff Have Been Cut, Undermining Work in the ER and Housekeeping
LYNWOOD, Calif. – Just a few weeks after Prime Healthcare took over St. Francis Medical Center, the care problems that workers warned about if Prime acquired the hospital have roared to life, with as many as one-third of the staff cut from key departments, including the emergency department and environmental services, the department responsible for keeping the hospital clean and sanitized during the coronavirus pandemic.
Current and former St. Francis employees will picket the hospital at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 4 at 3630 E. Imperial Hwy. in Lynwood to protest the ongoing staffing crisis and danger to patients and caregivers.
“This is exactly what we said would happen if Prime took over our hospital and now patients, staff and the entire community are paying the price. It’s been nothing but chaos,” said Alvin Medina, a certified nursing assistant at St. Francis. “I’ve never seen so many problems with safety and short-staffing. Prime needs to bring back our coworkers now.”
St. Francis is a hospital that is critical to treating COVID-19 patients in Los Angeles County, with high coronavirus caseloads and one of the busiest emergency trauma centers in the area. Some 300 St. Francis employees have lost jobs that Prime promised to preserve.
WHAT: Picket by healthcare workers outside Prime St. Francis Medical Center over massive job cuts that threaten care.
WHEN: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Friday, Sept. 4.
WHERE: St. Francis Medical Center, 3630 E. Imperial Hwy., Lynwood.
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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is one of the largest unions of hospital workers in the United States, with 97,000 members. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.