For Immediate Release
February 24, 2021

Contact
Renée Saldaña
[email protected]

Los Angeles, Calif. – Employees at Southern California Hospital at Culver City (SCHCC) who say management is putting their health and safety at risk because of a neglected facility, short-staffing, and lack of disposable personal protective equipment will picket the hospital from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 24.

Over the last year, workers at SCHCC say they have witnessed broken and missing portions of ceilings and staff putting buckets in front of patient rooms to control leaks when it rains. Employees are also concerned about broken equipment, such as an elevator that has been defunct for several months.

“Patient care is suffering because they choose to put profits first. We’re risking our lives every day at work and feel that the administration isn’t putting adequate funding into fixing our broken elevator, leaking ceilings, hiring enough staff, or providing adequate disposable PPE,” said Jacob Manesh, a pharmacist at Southern California Hospital at Culver City. “As the COVID-19 pandemic tears through our community, we are calling on SCHCC and the Prospect administration to do more to keep our hospital safe and clean and provide quality patient care.”

As detailed in a ProPublica investigation last year, Prospect Medical, which owns SCHCC, has experienced a long list of problems across its facilities, including broken elevators, dirty surgical gear, bedbugs, and more.

WHAT: Picket by healthcare workers outside Southern California Hospital at Culver City over deteriorating facility, safety issues, and inadequate staffing.

WHEN:  Wednesday, February 24, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Southern California Hospital at Culver City, 828 Delmas Terrace

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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 more than 97,000 members.