Environmental services (EVS) workers were among the approximately 2,000 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center employees who went on strike early yesterday morning seeking higher wages and better safety protections at the Los Angeles hospital, NBC4-TV reports.
The workers, members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU)- United Healthcare Workers West, have planned a five-day strike after unsuccessfully bargaining with hospital management over a new labor contract since March 21.
The union contends the hospital has not bargained in good faith and has not fairly reimbursed workers for their service. They say workers are making less than US$20 an hour after working at the hospital for more than 15 years.
In addition, workers are concerned about the hospital’s safety practices. Independent consumer health care watchdog, the Leapfrog group, recently issued Cedars-Sinai a hospital safety grade of D, down from the hospital’s previous safety rating of C.
The union specifically cited the hospital’s below average grades in in infection control. Union leaders are seeking several safety provisions such as personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpiles and COVID-19 exposure notifications.
Hospital representatives say the union has not responded to hospital management’s latest offer.
“During lengthy bargaining sessions, it became clear to us that union leaders never intended to reach agreement with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on a new contract without a strike,” said Thomas M. Priselac, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center President and CEO in a statement. “This was made clearer to us over the weekend when the union broke off negotiations without ever responding to our latest offer and instead decided to proceed with its strike.”
Union members say they will picket until Friday evening unless a contract agreement is reached earlier.
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Study determines alternate solution needed to eliminate C. auris
Frequent cleaning and disinfection are often touted as a solution for eliminating antibiotic-resistant pathogens that cause health care-acquired infections. (HAI). However, a recent study found cleaning my not be enough to deter some of these germs.
Candida auris (C. auris), a multi-drug resistant pathogen commonly transmitted in health care facilities, re-contaminates hospital rooms within four hours of cleaning, according to a study funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) foundation and presented at the recent Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Spring Conference, Infection Control Today reports.
Environmental services (EVS) staff completed daily patient room cleaning and disinfection, which included wiping down high-touch surfaces with hydrogen peroxide wipes, at an acute-care hospital and skilled nursing facility in Chicago and five skilled nursing facilities in Orange County, California. Four hours later, researchers took samples from high-touch surfaces in the cleaned rooms, then repeated these samples after eight and 12 hours.
The samples revealed surfaces close to the patient were commonly re-contaminated with C. auris only four hours after cleaning, including the overbed table (24%), bed handrail (24%), and remote/call button (19%). However, samples taken outside of patient rooms, such as at the nursing station and on equipment carts, rarely detected C. auris.
Dr. Sarah Sansom, study author and attending physician of infectious diseases at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said she and her colleagues were surprised at how rapidly surfaces became contaminated with C. auris following cleaning.
“More frequent cleaning is unlikely to provide adequate control of C auris environmental contamination because contamination occurs within hours after disinfection,” Sansom said. “Rapid re-contamination of environmental surfaces after manual cleaning/disinfection suggests that alternate mitigation strategies should be evaluated.”
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Legislation passed last week will raise Hawaii’s minimum wage to potentially the highest rate in the country, Associated Press reports.
Hawaii’s minimum wage is currently US$10.10 an hour. The legislation will raise the state’s minimum wage in increments over the next several years, starting with $12 on October 1 and ending with $18 by 2028.
By today’s standards, the $18 minimum wage would be the highest rate among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. However, some states that currently have $15 an hour minimum wages, like California, may have a higher wage in six years due to inflation.
Advocates of the legislation say it is badly needed in a state with expensive housing and a high cost of living. Opponents say the higher wage will drive up businesses’ costs and essentially be absorbed by consumers. They believe it would be better for Hawaii to reduce its cost of living, such as increasing available housing by allowing the construction of taller and more numerous residential towers, driving down housing costs.
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