Hospital Workers Call for Expanded DC Patient Protection Act
Monday, March 17, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)“Patient care is a team effort,”
SEIU 722 president
Dan Fields says. In addition to doctors and
nurses, there are patient care techs
who monitor vitals, phlebotomists who draw
blood, transporters, environmental
service workers, and respiratory service
workers. Many of these “ancillary”
workers are concerned about the possible
effects of the proposed Patient
Protection Act (PPA), now pending before the DC
City Council, which would
mandate minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
“We’d be happy to support a bill that
protects assistive service workers,” says
Fields, whose local represents such
workers at the Washington Hospital Center and
Children’s National Medical
Center. "We are willing to work
with
all involved to ensure that the residents of
the District of Columbia receive
ultimate patient care and that all hospital
workers are protected from
understaffing, over working, and have job
security." After all, Fields
adds, "We all want
the same thing, which is the best possible care
for our patients."
photo courtesy
SEIU 722
website.