Hospital Workers Call for Expanded DC Patient Protection Act

(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.