UHW Member Blog
BLOG: “A $30,000 bill and a lien on my house and I have insurance.”
By Connie Taylor-Smith
I work at Sutter Eden in Castro Valley in Northern California. In 2004 my daughter was admitted to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland. It was a scary time and I was most concerned about her health and making sure she had the best care, which she did, but when the ordeal was over I was billed $30,000…. and I have insurance!
My husband and I paid off the bill little by little until Sutter decided we weren’t paying enough. We couldn’t afford to pay anymore, but in response they put a lien on our house. Can you imagine?
I work for Sutter and still they put a lien on my house! Our family rallied around us and we paid off the bill, but the next year at the bargaining table I vowed to work with my coworkers to improve our health insurance to make sure mental health is also covered. Now we have even better health insurance so an incident like that won’t happen again.
But healthcare still costs a lot and every year the costs go up. Working inside a Sutter hospital I think I have a good idea why the costs are so high.
- They charge $9 for each toothbrush even though they buy a huge bag of them for just a few dollars.
- They charge $13 for ONE Bic razor, something you can easily pick up at the 99 cent store.
In November SEIU-UHW filed two ballot initiatives to bring down the high cost of healthcare and increase charity care for the needy. Within the last couple of weeks we started collecting signatures to qualify both of them for the November election.
I am so excited to support these two ballot initiatives. In order to maintain our benefits and ensure our friends and families and even us have healthcare we need to bring costs down. We need to keep these hospitals honest.
I challenge all of you to join me and collect signatures to get these initiatives on the ballot.
BLOG: Patient and Caregiver Safety Goes Hollywood
Daniel Franquez, Hollywood Community Hospital
Today my SEIU-UHW coworkers and I brought our fight for patient and caregiver safety to the streets in front of our facility, Hollywood Community Hospital. We marched and we chanted for safer staffing ratios–and we even talked to KABC radio. But the real story is all the things that led to today’s protest.
Hollywood Community Hospital often admits patients with behavioral and psychological issues. I’m a licensed vocational nurse and every day I see the dangers that both patients and caregivers face due to the hospital’s refusal to add more staff. One coworker was attacked and struck in the face recently by a patient with a known history of violence because of inadequate support. Patients have fallen out of their beds because caregivers are required to perform duties outside our jobs, such as answering phones or doing clerical tasks. Sometimes a single staff member must try to restrain an out of control patient when at least three staff are needed.
SEIU-UHW members rallying for good jobs and safer staffing at Hollywood Community Hospital.
We’ve shared our concerns about unsafe staffing with our bosses, but nothing happens. Sometimes our only solution when a patient gets out of control is to call the police because we simply don’t have the numbers we need.
But that’s not the end of the story. Today’s action showed me how committed SEIU-UHW members are to fighting for as long as it takes to win better patient care. We’re going back to the bargaining table in early February, and we’re going to keep standing up for caregivers, patients, and this whole community by standing up for more and safer healthcare jobs at Hollywood Community Hospital.
BLOG: Bargaining Begins With a Bang: Focus on Health at Daughters of Charity
My name is Natalie Garza, and I work as an emergency room technician at O’Connor Hospital, a Daughters of Charity facility in San Jose. I am so excited to be on the 2012 bargaining team.
We are coming to the bargaining table with a fresh perspective and a new focus: improving health in California – for healthcare workers and our patients.Today is our first day of bargaining, and I couldn’t be more hopeful about our ambitious plan. The time is now for big, bold ideas.
Healthcare workers are asking Daughters of Charity to work with them to recruit and train healthcare workers to meet growing demand for healthcare services, help fight the alarming increase in chronic illness statewide and focus on new ways to improve healthcare for everyone.
I personally know the effects of a broken healthcare system. Every day I see patients who come into the emergency room with conditions that could have been prevented if they had reliable access to quality healthcare.
I regularly help treat a woman who not only suffers from diabetes, but she is also homeless. She roams the streets in a wheel chair because she lost a leg due to complications from diabetes, and she risks losing her other leg in the not too distant future.
Her health should have never gotten so bad, but she did not want to be a burden on her family or society so she just tried to make due. Now she is going to lose her other leg as she slowly loses her eyesight.
This patient is just one example of thousands of people who are hurt by our current healthcare system. So many decent, hardworking people don’t have access to regular check ups and medication. They wait until things get so bad that they have to come to the ER.
This is literally a matter of life and limb. She may lose her leg because we have a healthcare system that is out of whack.
It may be too late for her, but I live and work in a community with thousands of people who would benefit from an improved healthcare system. It’s not too late to step into the lives of thousands of Californians who want to be healthy, productive citizens.
As a healthcare worker I am ready to work on making California healthier. I look forward to working with a coalition of healthcare workers and providers to make this dream a reality.
Read more about what happened during bargaining here
Learn more about improving health in California:
Download and read about Let’s Get Healthy California! here
Read about the current state of healthcare in California here
Natalie Garza
Emergency Room Technician
O’Connor Hospital
BLOG: Health is a Human Right
by Martha Alvarez
Centinela Hospital
I signed the South LA Declaration of Health and Human Rights--a commitment to make health and human rights equality a reality in South LA.
I just spent a fabulous morning at the South LA Health and Human Rights Forum. Well over 100 people attended the event, which was put on by a coalition of South LA community groups, activists, residents, and healthcare workers.
Just think about this one idea that the entire coalition is based on: Health is a human right.
That means that all people have the basic right to wellness, no matter where you live, how much money you make, what race you are, or your age. The South LA Health and Human Rights Coalition is committed to winning that right for everyone in our communities.
Two members of St. John's Well Child & Family Center--Dr. Jim Mangia (president) and David Fuentes (patient and community leader)--spoke about the importance of community clinics like St. John's Centers, which provide affordable, quality care to more than 35,000 South LA residents.
Different speakers throughout the morning talked about the outside factors that cause health problems for people in communities like South LA. Poor housing conditions can cause ailments such as asthma, allergies, and immune system problems. Lack of healthy food choices can cause diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Fewer educational and employment opportunities limit people’s access to affordable healthcare.
General Dogon, a human rights defender with LA CAN, spoke of the inequalities that many South LA residents face every day.
The bottom line is that poor health does not come from out of nowhere–it’s often the result of the economic and political inequalities that so many South LA residents face.
So the big question is, what can we do about these problems? Do what I did–join our campaign to bring health and human rights equality to South LA.
Our next meeting is a holiday bash that includes a toy giveaway to needy children in South LA. Learn more here!
BLOG: I’m Starting My Journey as an Advocate for Others
By Yitskhaq Abraham El
Kaiser West Los Angeles
As I sat in the airplane on my way to Washington, D.C., I thought of what my purpose was and what I hoped to accomplish on this trip. I thought about my grandmother that was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and how having Medicaid helped keep her from having large bills for the last part of her life. Knowing that she would not leave a large financial burden behind let her enjoy her family for the last part of her life.
I also thought of my father, who has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I am glad he is able to have healthcare after working and paying taxes for all these years. I know his journey will be hard, but because he has Medicaid I know he will be able to get the care he needs to fight cancer.
Then I thought of all the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, that I didn’t know personally, but that I had a responsibility as a healthcare worker to speak for.
Then my purpose became clear. On this trip I was to be a voice for those who were ignored: the 99% who didn’t have large lobbying firms to represent them. The Americans that go to work every day and have to decide whether to buy gas or food. The people who put off going to the doctor’s office because they can’t afford to take the day off to find out if something is ailing them. The people who have lost their jobs and don’t know how they will pay their bills this month or how they will be able afford their medication that they rely on to live.
My purpose was to be a voice for the unrepresented. I thought how these same Americans like me vote for politicians to represent them. But, when those same politicians get into office, their personal goals overshadow the wants of the people they were sent to represent. So, my goal was also to remember those who had elected me as a union steward, because I was representing them on this trip as well.
So I decided when I got off the plane I would start my journey to be the advocate for so many just as others had been for me. I might not be a great speaker like Martin Luther King, but I will use the voice of truth to guide me. I might not be a great organizer, but I will guide people in the way of righteousness. And I might not be the best writer, but I will let my words paint pictures of hope and the dedication that I will give while representing the people I am here for. I will also be the best union steward I can be.
BLOG: How I Earned Free CEU Credit
By Deb Mauzy, RN
Sutter Amador
It’s not everyday that we get to enjoy fresh air while working in the most scenic conference room in our hospital. Well just beyond the terrace doors of the Oakwood Room, I got to do just that as I joined a small group of nurses to work on our continuing education units (CEU) at Sutter Amador.
SEIU-UHW teamed up with the Nurse Alliance to bring the CEU class to our hospital, and the best part is that it was free!
It was great seeing everyone in a relaxed off-the-clock atmosphere, and we learned a lot about the new healthcare reform laws and how it can be a benefit or detriment to our jobs.
The ladies from the Nurse Alliance brought pastries and I got to catch up with long-time SEIU-UHW steward Beth Haddorf and Deb Cheney from the ER. Grace Nolan was there too, and shared stories from when she graduated from nursing school in 1954.
Our first class was exhilarating and informative and we need to keep this momentum going. We’re working with SEIU-UHW and the Nurse Alliance to start offering more CEU classes for free.
To schedule a free CEU class for registered nurses, email Vu Nguyen today.
See you next class!
Huffington Post: Healthcare Workers File Bold Voter Initiatives
By Dave Regan
President of SEIU-UHW
Read the post on HuffingtonPost.com here.
Californians are less healthy than ever before. Alarming increases in the rates of manageable and preventable chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, asthma, depression, hypertension and heart disease are overwhelming our health care system and destroying the quality of life for millions of people.
What if we could do something about that?
Health care workers, who are members of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, filed two statewide ballot initiatives with the California Attorney General on November 23rd that give consumers needed transparency on hospital costs, end overcharging for hospital services and ensure increased charity care for the neediest.
Three quarters of the hospital industry in California pay no taxes. Companies that operate tax-free should not be permitted to overcharge consumers, and they should be required to meet their charitable duty by providing a reasonable level of services for prevention, treatment and wellness to those in need.
The Charity Care Act of 2012 and the Fair Healthcare Pricing Act of 2012 will help consumers by ensuring that hospitals live up to their commitments to the communities where they operate.
It’s a bold plan and here’s why we are doing it:
California is facing a “perfect storm.” We are enduring the worst economy in living memory. We are struggling with the worst fiscal challenges in most of our lifetimes. And, we are undoing the features of our post-World War II social contract — no longer will the next generation have more than their parents. None of these challenges can be fully met unless we reform our health care system.
Take one family in Clovis, Calif. I’ll call them Maria and Joseph Watson. If these initiatives had been enacted it would have meant lower bills and relief from bankruptcy. The couple was uninsured for nearly a year after Joseph lost his job and before Maria could find a new job with health benefits. In that time they accrued nearly $100,000 in medical debts. They were charged thousands of dollars for short hospital stays and hundreds of dollars for soap and toothpaste. Finally Maria got a job with health insurance, but at $363 a month to cover her husband, Maria couldn’t immediately afford to add him to the policy.
Health care workers live and breathe these problems every day — in hospitals and clinics, in clients’ homes and in nursing homes. But we live in California — the nation’s largest, most dynamic and most diverse state. Health care workers here are perfectly situated to help create a healthier populace over the long-term.
Consumers like Maria endure a lot to get the care they need. In Maria’s case, a sheriff’s deputy served her with papers at the hospital while she was working, which made her feel like a criminal. The hospital even began to garnish Maria’s wages. The situation was so overwhelming and unsustainable that the couple filed for bankruptcy.
These situations are stressful, but in the case of our health there is no choice but to find the best care available, and right now that costs too much money. The ballot initiatives — Charity Care and Fair Healthcare Pricing — are part of our union’s “Let’s Get Healthy California!” effort to improve the quality and reduce the cost of health care in California. For all consumers these two initiatives will mean lower health care costs and increased charity care for the needy in exchange for non-profit hospitals’ tax exempt status.
Preserving the status quo is simply not possible. We need fundamental reform oriented around quality, cost-reduction and an aggressive attempt to reduce chronic disease. I believe these two initiatives are important pieces to building the next generation of California’s care delivery system.
Read more at http://yesforahealthycalifornia.org/
BLOG: Congress Heard Us, Stopped Bad Deal
Earlier this month I called my congressman and told him not to make cuts to Medicare and Medi-Cal. I made this call to protect the families, seniors and kids who live in my community while holding on to good healthcare jobs at my facility.
I am a respiratory therapist who cares for hundreds of patients that depend on Medi-Cal and Medicare. I knew the cuts would have a disastrous affect on their health.
SEIU-UHW members made more than 4,000 calls to congressional super-committee member Rep. Xavier Becerra and our own congressional representatives–and it worked! Together we helped prevent a bad deal that could have cut-off millions of Americans from healthcare.
We can’t reduce our mammoth federal budget deficit by cutting programs that our communities need. The fairest way to bring down the deficit is to end tax breaks for the wealthy and require the 1 percent–millionaires and billionaires–to pay their fair share.
This is only round one of an ongoing battle to prevent cuts to Medicare and Medi-Cal. Let’s keep fighting.
- Joycelyn Witts
St. Vincent Medical Center
Los Angeles
BLOG: Fight Cuts to Medicare So Hardworking Families Can Focus on Living Their Lives
Tracy McGlory Kaiser West Los Angeles
Today, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution, introduced by Councilmember Richard Alarcón, that calls to support Medicare and Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California) in the City’s 2011-12 Federal Legislative Program.
I joined Councilmember Alarcón; Jim Mangia, President and CEO of St Johns Well Child and Family Center; and SEIU-UHW president Dave Regan before Wednesday’s City Council meeting to discuss the importance of Medicare and Medi-Cal in California.
Not only do Medicare and Medi-Cal provide more than half of the funding for hospital care and 80% of the funding for nursing home care in California, but the programs are crucial components of California’s economy: more than 1 out of every 10 jobs in California is in the healthcare sector.
I decided to speak at the press conference today because of my family. We face serious economic and medical challenges. Medicare and Medi-Cal funding is critical to their basic survival.
My mother, who raised 8 children on her own, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 70. In addition to breast cancer she struggles with diabetes and a heart condition. She depends on Medicare and Medi-Cal to live, but her access to life saving medication is limited. After a lifetime of hard work, she should be enjoying her life. Her biggest worry should be about what she is going to make for Thanksgiving dinner and how she is going to get all her presents wrapped before Christmas. Unfortunately her medical and financial worries distract her from what is truly important to her.
My sister also faces huge medical challenges. A hardworking small business owner, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 47. To complicate matters, she also has throat cancer and two pins in her hip due to bone cancer. She needs Medicare and Medi-Cal, but she does not qualify. Something is seriously wrong with our economic and moral priorities when we can’t give proper care to some of the most hardworking entrepreneurs among us!
When I think about my family’s health and financial situation, I feel saddened, but this strong group gathered here today gives me hope.
I fully support the resolution before city council today. We must oppose further cuts to Medicare and Medi-Cal funding because hardworking families need to focus on living their lives. Families should not crumble under the stress of trying to get and pay for healthcare services. Let’s fight the cuts!
BLOG: We Have to Take Action for The Many Who Will Be Affected by Medicare Cuts
Joella Martin CHW Bakersfield Memorial Hospital
Today I stood with the President and CEO of CHW Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Jon Van Boening, and the President and CEO of CHW Mercy Hospital of Bakersfield, Russell Judd, at a joint press conference to shed light on a very critical issue.
Congress is considering whether or not to cut $500 billion or more to Medi-Cal and Medicare. If realized, the affect on the lives of our patients, our families and our friends would be devastating.
One of my passions in life is being an advocate for the elderly. My friend Linda just turned 70 and is very artistic, sings beautifully and has been my dearest friend for the past 20 years.
Linda struggles with morbid obesity, psychiatric issues, heart problems, has a pacemaker, asthma, is a fall risk, and the list goes on. She lives alone and is on a fixed income with Medicare as her only health insurance.
If these cuts go into effect, Linda will not be able to afford the critical healthcare she needs nor any increase in share of cost for her medications. Without proper medical care, her health will take a turn for the worse.
My friend Linda’s situation is just one of many. It is my fervent hope that by standing together today, we will have made someone more aware of how these reductions to Medi-Cal and Medicare will affect millions of people, and inspire people to take action for the many in our community who will be affected by these cuts.
Let us stand firm in our convictions to fight for better health, quality of life and a fair economy.
Joella Martin,
CHW Bakersfield Memorial Hospital