Maria Elena Jauregui, Spanish-language, 818.355.5291
SEIU community clinic workers, in partnership with nine union community clinic CEOs, deliver health care victory for their clinic patients, 1 in 2 are Latino and 70% are people of color
Sacramento, CA – SEIU community health clinic workers today announced a significant breakthrough in their effort to strengthen care for community clinic patients. The Governor and the legislature have reached an agreement on AB 204 and SB 121, delivering $1,000 retention bonuses to an estimated 70,000 frontline health care workers at California’s community clinics.
Workers who are members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in California and workers at community clinics not-yet-organized with a union have worked together over months to sound the alarm over patient care as community clinics, also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers, across California face a staffing crisis.
“We are devoted to our patients and work our hardest to make sure they receive timely access to quality care, but without enough health care workers it’s been a real challenge,” said Angela Millan, an SEIU 521 member and Patient Access Care Representative at Golden Valley Health Center in Modesto. “We’ve had patients wait for weeks for an appointment or hours in the waiting room just to hear that they can’t be seen. The retention bonus is an important step in helping keep more healthcare workers to serve California’s poorest communities.”
“The relief that community clinics provide to low income, immigrant, and refugee families is immeasurable. In order for these clinics to stay open, we need to ensure that they are adequately equipped to meet the needs of our most vulnerable,” said Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo. “The announcement of these retention bonuses brings hope to thousands across California, as it will assist in ensuring the presence of adequate personnel and resources at California’s community clinics. Our frontline healthcare workers were the first line of defense against the devastating onslaught of COVID-19, and the staffing challenges they faced left them overlooked and overwhelmed. We must be bold in our effort to give clinic workers everything they need to be successful.”
“Community clinic workers are the foundation of our state’s primary care safety net,” Hertzberg said. “AB 204 and SB 121 are an important beginning to retain and grow our health care workforce. That way every Californian – regardless of their immigration status, race or income – has access to timely, quality care. I’m proud to stand with SEIU community clinic workers and pro-worker community clinic CEOs who have joined together in a powerful movement to address the healthcare workforce shortage.”
“When workers come together and speak out for the care our communities’ need to thrive, we deliver for the people who are counting on us, ” said Angel Valdez, an SEIU 1021 member, who works at La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland. “We are underpaid and worn out, but we refuse to accept that serving our communities should come at the cost of our families. We came together through our union. We lifted up our patients, our co-workers and ourselves, and we showed clinic workers across the state what it means to belong to a union and how powerful we can be when we come together.”
SEIU members are grateful to Sen. Hertzberg and Asm. Carrillo who have championed increased investment in clinics that serve low-income communities of color, in addition to leaders of Asian Health Services, Clinica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero, Gardner Health Center, HealthRIGHT 360, Salud Para la Gente, St. John’s Community Health, Watts Health Center, and West Oakland Health, whose partnership was essential in securing millions to stabilize the community clinic workforce. Through their partnership, community clinic workers have been advocating for increased funding to community clinics that serve more than six million Californians each year, two-thirds of whom are Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
SEIU community clinic workers who have led the effort to strengthen community clinics across California said today’s announcement is a major breakthrough in their efforts to save and improve care for patients served by community health centers. More than 70% of community health center patients are people of color, one in two are Latino, and more than half fall 100% under the federal poverty line.
Emboldened by this victory, SEIU community clinic workers say they’ll push even harder to give workers a voice in improving care in their communities so they can continue to improve care and equity for clinic patients. With SEIU Community Clinic Workers United, a statewide movement of thousands of community clinic workers from across the state, front line healthcare workers are organizing and advocating for greater state investment in community clinics, increased training and career opportunities, and labor-management partnership programs to improve patient care.
“Helping retain our clinic workforce will get community clinics and the people we serve through the immediate crisis, marked by long waiting times for essential care – but this is just the first step,” said Reymundo Espinoza, CEO of Gardner Health Services, a community clinic with locations in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. ”Through a strong partnership between frontline workers and clinic leadership, we can deliver on California’s promise of health equity. Together we’re committed to strengthening the career pipeline so workers who come from the communities we serve can afford to keep serving our communities and raise families, too.”
# # #
