BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Workers at Dignity Memorial Hospital picketed on Tuesday as part of a statewide effort with Dignity Health and Sutter Health facilities to demand more collaboration with hospital management to improve safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, including better staffing and ensuring workers have adequate personal protective equipment.
In response to Tuesday's picketing, Dignity Memorial Hospital made the following statement:
"Nothing is more important than the safety of our caregivers and our patients. We are very confident that we have enough personal protective equipment for all of our staff and have multiple contingency plans in place to ensure we have the supplies required to provide care for our patients while protecting our staff, clinicians and physicians.
Throughout the pandemic, Memorial Hospital has been working across our organization, with community partners, and with local and state health officials to ensure we have the additional staffing resources needed, including the California National Guard, Department of Defense, and independent medical staffing agencies, to provide the highest level of care for our patients and protect the safety of our caregivers.
Additional resources are available to all employees during this challenging time including peer-to-peer support teams, our Caring for the Caregiver program, and the Employee Assistance Program which includes assistance with childcare resources.
We continue to need our communities' help in slowing the spread of coronavirus by wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance of six feet, washing your hands and refraining from touching your face, and staying home when sick."
