Workers picket Monterey Park hospital
Garfield Medical Center employees hold protest; rallies set for 2 other AHMC sites this week
Cheer Liv is used to running back and forth between patients who are often on ventilators and in need of constant care.
But Liv, a respiratory therapist at Garfield Medical Center, rarely gets the help he needs to keep up because of chronic understaffing.
“We just can't be limited in numbers,” the 43-year-old Monterey Park resident said. “I'm often trying to move equipment from one room to another and these are patients who can't breathe on their own.”
Liv isn't alone. Scores of employees throughout the Monterey Park hospital say they're often scrambling to do the job of two or more people in an effort to keep things running.
The situation prompted nursing assistants, emergency medical technicians, licensed vocational workers and other health care workers to picket the medical center Tuesday.
The rally was the second of four protests to be held at AHMC Healthcare hospitals in the region. Employees picketed Doctors Hospital of Riverside last week and additional rallies are set for Tuesday at Greater El Monte Community Hospital and Monterey Park Hospital.
The employees, who number 1,100 among the four facilities, are represented by SEIU-United
Healthcare Workers West. Their contract expired Dec. 31 and their last bargaining session was held Monday with additional sessions set for today and Thursday.
Representatives with AHMC could not be reached for comment.
Employees at all four hospitals say they've been pushed to the limit by management and are calling on AHMC to address the staffing crisis through ongoing contract negotiations.
The situation comes in the midst of a health care staffing crisis across the state. California faces a massive shortage of health care workers — job classes that include medical assistants, respiratory therapists, emergency room workers, licensed vocational nurses, lab assistants, housekeepers and other frontline staff.
Jesus Rodarte, an admitting representative in Garfield's emergency room department, said patients that need to be admitted to the hospital often have to wait six to eight hours to be seen by medical personnel.
“During the day my department is staffed with two people and at night it's one,” the 29-yearold Monterey Park resident said. “We had a meeting with management and asked if they could give us an extra person on each shift, but they have refused to do that.”
Liv said the situation is taking a toll on both patients and employees.
“I am frustrated, stressed and just feel incredibly bad for our patients,” he said. “They are not getting the care they deserve.”
The AHMC complaints echo those heard among health care workers at other medical facilities. Nurses rallied outside Antelope Valley Medical Center earlier this month, also claiming chronic short-staffing has left them overworked and compromised patient care.
The employees, which number nearly 900 at the Lancaster hospital, are represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. Their contract will expire in May and bargaining sessions were expected to begin this month.
Striking workers at St. Francis Medical Center who have openly complained of understaffing and inadequate patient care were fired last month.
The seven employees who were terminated at the Prime Healthcare-owned hospital in Lynwood include the entire five-member bargaining team with SEIU-UHW, which represents health care employees at the facility.
Tensions mounted further at St. Francis when Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Long Beach, and others were denied access to the hospital,.
Barragan went there hoping to see the seven striking workers reinstated to their jobs.