Workforce to Demand Accountability for Supervisors’ Blatant Disregard for the Health and Welfare of County Healthcare Workers and Vulnerable Patients; Nurses to Call on County to Maintain Common-Sense Precautions, Testing and Isolation for Workers Exposed to COVID-19
LOS ANGELES — Nurses who have put their lives on the line to keep Los Angeles County functional throughout the COVID-19 pandemic will hold a press conference Tuesday at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration to sound the alarm on LA County’s decision to force Covid-positive healthcare workers back to work without testing or isolation periods.
The County’s decision comes after the California Department of Public Health released dangerous new guidance on January 8th allowing hospitals and other care facilities to bring healthcare workers back to work after they have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been directly exposed, a move that puts vulnerable patients and frontline workers at grave risk.
Los Angeles County is in the midst of an unprecedented surge in Covid cases as a result of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, with reports of private hospitals turning away patients due to overwhelming capacity issues and public hospitals facing rampant staffing shortages. Nurses will call on County leadership to take common-sense steps to keep healthcare workers and patients safe, including the cancellation of non-critical healthcare procedures and elective surgeries, tighter controls on visitation, and testing and isolation for workers exposed to COVID.
LA County nurses with SEIU 721 will also call on County leadership to end their overreliance on private nurse registries to fill staffing shortages and instead invest in the recruitment and retention of frontline healthcare professionals.
Following the press conference, nurses and union officials will testify at Tuesday’s official meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
WHO: LA County’s Registered Nurses, Union Officials with SEIU 721
WHAT: Press Conference Decrying County’s Decision to Force COVID-positive Nurses Back to Work
WHEN: Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 10 AM
WHERE: Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, (Steps of Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room Entrance), 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA
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Contact: Roxane Marquez, roxane.marquez@seiu721.org, (213) 705-1078
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