COVID-19: SEIU-UHW Daily Updates

COVID-19: SEIU-UHW Daily Updates

We are healthcare workers across California who will guide our state and our nation through the COVID-19 epidemic. Our mission in SEIU-UHW is to provide all healthcare workers the resources and information needed to stay healthy, keep working, have all the supplies we need, and ensure that our families are well taken care of so that we can protect our communities and heal our patients. 

April 1, 2020

VIDEO: “We need everything”

Lab workers Raj and Alvin lay out how broad our PPE shortages are.

 

FACEBOOK LIVE TODAY: THE SURGE — NEW TIME!

Join our weekly COVID-19 Facebook Live session TODAY, Wed., April 1 at 5:30 p.m. — featuring U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA–45th District), a fierce healthcare warrior who made national news recently by compelling the CDC to promise free COVID-19 testing for all. We’ll focus on the surge that has started and what it will take to protect ourselves and heal our patients. 

 

SURGE CHECKLIST

Click here for the latest COVID-19 Surge Checklist. Let’s all use it to make sure we’re ready for the surge that’s coming at us!

 

NEW RESOURCES FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS

COVID-19 TESTING: We still face a national shortage of tests, but testing centers are starting to open up across the state. Click here for testing eligibility and locations near you. 

CHILDCARE: Our children need care when we go to work every day to lead our state’s COVID-19 fight. Click here for childcare resources across the state. We update this list regularly so check back frequently. 

RENT & MORTGAGE RELIEF: Renters and homeowners impacted by COVID-19 now have temporary relief. Click here to learn more.

 

FROM THE FRONTLINES

Check out this inspiring story from our fellow SEIU-UHW member Isis Acevedo (left) about the bold action she and her coworkers are taking to protect caregivers and patients . . .

“I don’t work directly with patients — but I saw how bad the PPE shortages are and I needed to do something for the caregivers who are on the frontlines. 

A group of our union leaders approached Kaiser to figure out how to work together to address the shortages. Now I’m on a team of 20 workers — mostly SEIU-UHW members — who are assembling face shields at the Kaiser Regional Office in Oakland for 30 days. We’re making 1,500 face shields every day that are being distributed to frontline workers throughout this region. 

It feels great to do this work. Our morale is high because we’ve all seen how harmful this virus is and now we’re making the shields to protect our brothers and sisters who are on the frontlines fighting it.  

So believe me, even if your work doesn’t bring you into contact with patients, you can find a way to contribute to patient care. Keep looking here for these opportunities. We’re all healthcare workers, we all have huge hearts, and we’re all ready to do whatever it takes to guide our state through this crisis!”

Isis Acevedo, Regional Capacity Union Partner Representative, Kaiser South San Francisco