Healthcare workers at Santa Monica, Calif.-based Providence Saint John's Health Center and their supporters protested last week over what they deem as understaffing at the hospital.
The workers, represented by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, also protested "plans to prohibit workers from publicly airing concerns about patient care," union officials said via news release.
"Our goal is to provide the best patient care but that's hard to do when we're short staffed and unable to respond to patients' calls for help," said Linda Phongsvej, a respiratory therapist at St. John's Health Center. "Patients should have confidence that when they walk into the hospital that someone will respond as soon as possible. This is what my co-workers and I strive for, and why we are raising the issue of staffing."
Union officials said a September survey of 154 hospital workers found 47 percent reported staffing has been eliminated in their department during the past 12 months.
St. John's Health Center expressed disappointment in last week's picket.
"While the hospital respects its employees' right to participate in union activities, we are disappointed that the union has chosen to focus on an informational picket, rather than on the bargaining table," hospital officials said in a statement, according to a Santa Monica Lookout report.
They added, "Providence Saint John's Health Center remains committed to negotiating in good faith with SEIU-UHW and is working to develop an agreement that benefits our caregivers, as well as the community we serve."
The picket came amid negotiations between the hospital and SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, which represents more than 450 hospital workers, including nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses, respiratory therapists and pharmacy technicians. The workers unionized earlier this year.
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