FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 5, 2023
Media Contact: Maria Leal, [email protected]
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Healthcare workers across four Prime Healthcare facilities in Southern California will hold pickets at St Francis Medical Center, Centinela Hospital Medical Center, Encino Hospital Medical Center, and Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center starting July 11. These workers are the first of what is expected to be tens of thousands of healthcare workers protesting this summer over the short-staffing crisis and its effects on patients and healthcare workers across California.
“The stress and toll of working in understaffed facilities is just too much for many people. We put our lives at risk during the pandemic and were called ‘heroes,’ but many of our employers didn’t provide the protection and support we desperately needed,” said Sonia Rodriguez ultrasound Tech at St Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. “Then inflation hit, rent and gas prices went up, and too many of us couldn’t get by. Many caregivers had to take on second or third jobs, causing more burnout. Now, many healthcare workers are fed up, and have left for better-paying jobs or quit the industry altogether.”
After years of chronic understaffing and battling the COVID pandemic, healthcare workers are calling on management to provide safe staffing levels and additional support to retain and attract more caregivers to the industry.
A recent staffing survey from SEIU-UHW of more than 33,000 healthcare workers revealed:
Healthcare corporations have benefited from billions of dollars in government funding during the pandemic, and many of them sharply increased their financial investments, further raising profits. More than 170 healthcare executives are paid more than $1 million a year in California, and the industry has raked in over $63 billion in profits in the five years from 2017-2021.
In 2021, Prime Healthcare Services and the Prime Healthcare Foundation made more than $263 million in profits from its California facilities. Prime operates healthcare facilities in 14 states nationwide.
DETAILS FOR PRESS:
Prime Encino Hospital Medical Center
Tuesday, July 11, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
16237 Ventura Boulevard, Encino, CA 91436
Prime St. Francis Medical Center
Tuesday, July 18, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
3630 E. Imperial Highway, Lynwood, CA 90262
Prime Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center
Wednesday, July 19, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
12601 Garden Grove Blvd, Garden Grove, CA, United States, California
Prime Centinela Hospital Medical Center
Tuesday, August 8, 12 pm – 2 pm
55 E. Hardy Street, Inglewood, CA 90301
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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.