For Immediate Release:
October 12, 2021

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Seventy clinic workers at Stanford Byers Eye Institute voted to improve safety, patient care, and jobs by uniting in SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), a union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers across California. With this win, the workers at these clinics join 2,500 other Stanford Health caregivers already in SEIU-UHW.

“For years the corporate executives at Stanford Health have put profits over patients,” said Ellen Nguyen, an Ophthalmic Technician II at Stanford Byers Eye Institute. “High workloads and low staffing levels have made it impossible for us to provide the best care we can to our patients. Now we’ll have a strong voice to improve patient care and safety here — and to protect good jobs in this community.”

Stanford Health made net income of over $366 million from 2019 to 2020 and over $213 million in just the first three quarters of 2021, according to its own financial disclosures. Stanford Health has received $576 million in federal, taxpayer-funded COVID-19 funds, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The company CEO is paid $3.2 million a year and 10 company executives are paid over $1 million a year.

The victory was overwhelming: 71 percent of the workers voting supported joining SEIU-UHW. The vote applies to a variety of job classes at the facility, including ophthalmic technicians and patient administrative specialists.

Media Contact: Renée Saldaña, [email protected]

# # # # #

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.