Dignity Health and Sutter Health workers have held informational pickets in September to urge management to improve staffing and ensure employees have adequate personal protective equipment, according to the union that represents them.
About 30 actions have taken place at Dignity Health and Sutter Health facilities in California, Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West said in a news release. Dignity Health is based in San Francisco and is part of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health. Sutter Health is based in Sacramento, Calif.
SEIU-UHW said workers are struggling to care for COVID-19 patients without enough staffing and too often without proper PPE to keep themselves, patients and the community safe.
"What we've seen with too many hospitals and hospital systems is that they're not working with employees to make sure that protocols are in place to keep people safe," union spokesperson Steve Trossman said, according to The Sun.
Sutter Health spokesperson Liz Madison confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review that a "small number" of picketers were present at a couple of the health system's hospitals recently.
In a statement to Becker's, CommonSpirit said: "Nothing is more important than the safety of our caregivers and our patients. We are very confident that we have enough PPE for all of our staff and clinicians. We continue to follow CDC guidance and guidance from state health agencies for protecting healthcare workers across our entire organization. We are providing appropriate PPE to every staff member working in our hospitals."