CHA Media Statement: Every Health Care Worker Must Put Patients First; Nurses Needed at the Bedside, Not on the Picket Line During COVID-19 Crisis
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "California is in the midst of an exponential spread of COVID-19, and the recent spike in the rate of positive cases and hospitalizations has pushed us into a full-blown emergency," said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association. "In times like these, California's health care providers need, without exaggeration, every hand on deck to save people's lives."
"The recent news that SEIU Local 121RN is planning to hold a 10-day strike, beginning Christmas Eve, at three hospitals in southern California is unconscionable," Coyle said. "This labor activity will not only affect the three targeted hospitals, but also will cause a ripple effect resulting in reduced capacity at all hospitals in the greater Los Angeles area. Patients throughout the region will face ever greater challenges in accessing the care they need at a time when our resources are already stretched beyond their capabilities."
"California's health care workforce is drained, having battled through nearly a year of the virus's unrelenting spread," Coyle said. "Fatigue, family needs, illness, and retirements are taking their toll, and the ranks are already thin."
"There is no question about the union's prerogative to strike, but the right to do something doesn't make it right," Coyle said. "Now is the time for nurses to be at the bedside, not on the picket line."
SOURCE California Hospital Association
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