For Immediate Release:

December 13, 2022

OAKLAND, Calif. – Healthcare workers and allies will rally at LifeLong Health Centers in San Pablo and Oakland on December 13 at 12 p.m., to protest the hospital’s threat to worker and patient safety due to short-staffing.

Workers are protesting to voice their concerns about LifeLong Medical Care’s lack of commitment to investing in patient care in their 34 clinics in Northern California, and the frontline caregivers who provide quality care to residents.

LifeLong Medical Care is a safety net provider for more than 61,000 underserved and vulnerable individuals, many with complex health conditions, every year. Yet, these vulnerable patients are put at even more risk because healthcare workers at their facilities are understaffed and underpaid, leading to high worker turnover.

“Staffing has been so critically low during this pandemic that many of the staff have left. Patient care suffers as workers are stretched thin and rushed. We’re forced to take on more patients, which leaves much less time for quality one-on-one patient care,” said Alisha Walker, a Medical Assistant for LifeLong Medical Care. “LifeLong Medical Care needs to invest more in patients and the workers that their community depends on.”

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Media Contact: [email protected]

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is a healthcare justice union of more than 100,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare activists united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers.