A nursing strike planned for the holidays was narrowly avoided, with Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America and Service Employees International Union 121 RN coming to a tentative contract agreement.
Nursing staff at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, West Hills Hospital and Medical Center and Riverside Community Hospital had called a 10-day strike from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3 to protest unfair labor practices, SEIU 121 said.
A win for union members includes Los Robles’ first union contract for licensed health care professionals, made up of 120 pharmacists; clinical laboratory scientists; physical, speech and occupational therapists; social workers; and dieticians. This particular union was formed in December 2019.
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Union nurses and HCA Healthcare reached a tentative contract agreement that members at three Southern California hospitals will vote on Tuesday and Wednesday, effectively averting a 10-day strike planned to start Christmas Eve.
The new contract includes greater transparency and communication on emergency preparedness plans from the hospitals to employees and guarantees the hospitals will provide personal protective equipment as required by state law, according to a statement from Service Employees International Union 121RN. It also stipulates the hiring of dozens of nurses at each hospital to ensure other staff get adequate rest and meal breaks.
If ratified, it will be the first union contract for employees at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California. About 120 pharmacists, clinical laboratory scientists, physical, speech and occupational therapists, social workers and dietitians formed their union in December of 2019.
First, Theresa Pirozzi’s 85-year-old dad got sick and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Days later, her mom was so weak she could barely walk. Now, instead of getting ready for Christmas, Pirozzi is anxiously awaiting updates from the hospital where both of her parents are in intensive care with the coronavirus.
“I’m not putting up decorations in here. It’s just not right, right now,” Pirozzi said from her parents’ home in Oak Park, California. “I’m physically ill from worry.
The couple are emblematic of the crisis deepening at an alarming rate in California, where hospitals are being stretched to their limits as the virus explodes across the state. Nearly 17,000 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections as of Friday and a state model that uses current data to forecast future trends shows the number could reach an unfathomable 75,000 by mid-January.
Alanna Durkin Richer
FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2020, file photo Army Gen. Gustave Perna, who is leading Operation Warp Speed, speaks during at an event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. The Army general in charge of getting COVID-19 vaccines across the United States apologized on Saturday, Dec. 19, for âmiscommunicationâ with states over the number of doses to be delivered in the early stages of distribution. I failed. I m adjusting. I am fixing and we will move forward from there, Perna told reporters in telephone briefing.
Image Credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File December 20, 2020 - 10:30 AM
Associated Press
Jerry and Shirley Pirozzi, an 85-year-old couple from Southern California, are in the same hospital with COVID-19 and had to wait for a couple days to get a bed. Previous Next
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ALANNA DURKIN RICHER | Associated Press
First, Theresa Pirozzi s 85-year-old dad got sick and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Days later, her mom was so weak she could barely walk. Now, instead of getting ready for Christmas, Pirozzi is anxiously awaiting updates from the hospital where her parents are in intensive care with the coronavirus.