NUHW members picketed Kindred hospitals in Brea and Westminster this month as part of their fight for a contract that provides fair pay and puts an end to rampant turnover and chronic understaffing at the facilities.
“We’re stretched so thin that it’s putting patients at risk,” said Sylvia Gadalla, a registered nurse at Kindred Hospital Brea. “Every day it’s a struggle to do our jobs without enough people on staff to get the work done to the level our patients deserve.”
Workers, who include nursing assistants, nurses, housekeepers, and respiratory therapists, have been negotiating new contracts at both hospitals since August, but Kindred, which is owned by a private equity fund, is proposing just 1.75 percent raises despite concerns from workers that already low wages are putting patients at risk.
- In a union survey, 64 percent of workers reported that there is usually not enough staff in their department and 70 percent said they can’t provide safe and timely care due to heavy workloads.
- More than one-in-four workers have left Kindred Brea and Westminster hospitals over the past two years.
- Between 2022 and 2023, the two hospitals combined for 119 substantiated complaints and more than $53,000 in fines issued by the California Department of Public Health.
“Kindred is owned by one of the richest private equity funds in the country, but we can’t support our families or provide the care our patients need,” said Christopher Malonzo, a respiratory therapist at Kindred Hospital Westminster. “We don’t like seeing our hospital operated like it’s all about profit, and we’re going to fight for a contract that respects our work and protects our patients.”
The 48-bed hospital in Brea and 109-bed hospital in Westminster treat patients for longer stays, typically after they are discharged from acute-care hospitals. These facilities are critical components of the health care system, but Kindred, which owns both Orange County facilities, has refused to pay workers enough to avoid rapid turnover that has contributed to rampant understaffing.
Currently, workers at the Kindred hospitals make 15 percent less on average than their counterparts at Providence San Pedro Medical Center, who are also NUHW members. Over the course of a 15-year career, workers at the Kindred hospitals would make 24.5 percent less than counterparts at nearby West Anaheim Medical Center.
Kindred has no excuse to shortchange patients and caregivers. It’s part of ScionHealth, which is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Apollo, which reported $4.5 billion in profits last year and manages $751 billion in assets, controls 220 hospitals across 36 states.
