The Recent Deaths of Alex Palomo and Thong Nguyen Make Total of 5
SEIU-UHW Members Who Have Died from COVID-19 at AHMC Hospitals.

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – To commemorate the lives of five AHMC Healthcare Inc. workers and to protest a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) at three AHMC hospitals, in the Los Angeles area, healthcare workers will hold a candlelight vigil from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 1 at Garfield Medical Center, 525 N Garfield Ave., in Monterey Park.

The five were all members of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW). They worked at Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park, Monterey Park Hospital, and Greater El Monte Community Hospital.

“We have now lost the fifth member of our union to COVID-19 and it has all of us who work in our hospitals scared each time we walk in the door,” said Tony Ramirez, a CCU technician at Garfield Medical Center. “You never know who could get it next when we don’t have the PPE to keep us safe.”

The five workers who passed away from COVID-19 are: Alex Palomo, a secretary, Da-wei Liang, a radiology technician, and Thong Nguyen, a cardiology technician, all at Garfield Medical Center; Imelda Sudlra, a secretary at Greater El Monte Community Hospital; and Maria Sigala, a nursing assistant at Monterey Park Hospital.

The vigil will be held with social distancing and participants will be required to wear masks.

WHAT: Candlelight vigil to remember fallen hospital workers who died from COVID-19, and to protest a lack of PPE for frontline healthcare workers across three AHMC Healthcare Inc. hospitals.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 1.

WHERE: Garfield Medical Center, 525 N Garfield Ave., in Monterey Park.

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SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is one of the largest unions of hospital workers in the United States, with 97,000 members. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.