FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:     

March 14, 2023

Media contact: Renée Saldaña, [email protected]

LOS ANGELES – Healthcare workers and allies gathered at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center to protest their employer’s understaffing and lack of investment in their workforce, which endanger patient care and the ability to retain experienced staff at the facility.

Employees at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center say conditions are dangerous for caregivers and patients as management ignores concerns about understaffing and working conditions. They are calling on their employer to listen to and work with healthcare workers to address the staffing crisis through ongoing contract negotiations.

“Management has refused to provide the staff we need to deliver quality care to our patients,” said Elizabeth George, a certified nursing assistant at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. “I have as many as 12 patients at a time. We are being stretched thin, rushed, and can’t give adequate care. It’s time for Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center show some accountability.”

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center refusal to invest in its workforce comes in the midst of a healthcare staffing crisis across the state. California faces a massive shortage of allied healthcare workers — job classes that include medical assistants, respiratory therapists, emergency room workers, licensed vocational nurses, lab assistants, housekeepers, and many other frontline staff.

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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 activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected caregivers. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.