Sign petition to hold Yakima Virginia Mason accountable

YAKIMA (June 5, 2020) — The following is an open message and call to action from SEIU Healthcare 1199NW to their Yakima friends, neighbors and community:

We hold strong in our commitment to care for you and your family during this pandemic. We will never stop advocating for the safe care of every community member who comes to our hospital and clinics.

We ask that you join us in holding Virginia Mason Memorial, our only local hospital, accountable to the safest standard of care. This means:

► All workers must be provided adequate personal protective equipment.

► Our surgery patients should be tested for COVID-19 for their safety and the safety of other patients and workers.

► Every unit should have enough nurses, caregivers and infection control team members to care for and protect patients.

► The hospital must not refuse our right to workers’ compensation when we are quarantined or become sick due to exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace.

If we, as healthcare workers, do not have adequate protective equipment at work and become sick, we jeopardize the care of our patients.

Stand with frontline healthcare workers and add your name to our petition. Together we call on our hospital to put patients above profits.