FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 15, 2024
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Healthcare workers will picket at multiple AHMC facilities this month, including Doctors Hospital of Riverside, on Tuesday, January 16, at 11 a.m. to protest unsafe staffing levels and their employer’s lack of investment in their workforce.
Employees at AHMC say working conditions are dangerous for caregivers and patient safety is at risk as management ignores concerns about understaffing. Workers say they’ve been pushed to the limit by management and are calling on their employer to listen to and work with healthcare workers to address the staffing crisis through ongoing contract negotiations.
“At a time when staffing levels are at dangerous lows across the AHMC healthcare system, executives and management are so concerned with their profits that they are ignoring obvious issues surrounding patient care because there simply is not enough staff to care for our patients properly, “ said Robert Sean Quaternik, a surgery technician at Doctors Hospital of Riverside.
AHMC Healthcare’s refusal to invest in its workforce comes amid 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.
Jan. 16, 2024
Doctor’s Hospital of Riverside
3865 Jackson St, Riverside, CA
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Jan. 23, 2024
Garfield Hospital
525 N. Garfield Ave, Monterey Park, CA
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Jan. 30, 2024
Greater El Monte Community Hospital
1701 Santa Anita Ave, South El Monte.
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Jan. 30, 2024
Monterey Park Hospital
900 S Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park, CA
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
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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. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.