Monterey County Herald: Guest commentary by SVMH caregivers

NewsJanuary 1, 2011

Hapless days at local hospital

Crystal Fuerte works in emergency room registration at SVMH. Hospital employees Alexis Guerrero and Israel Olivarez contributed to this commentary.

This is the time of year when most Americans spend a moment or two considering what the past year has brought that we can be thankful for, and what we can do better in our lives in the year to come. For many of your friends and neighbors who provide care at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, however, it is instead a time to wonder how our families will survive.

On Tuesday, hospital executives announced they were going forward with 20 layoffs and plan dozens more early this year. Though employees have tried repeatedly to negotiate the impact through our union, hospital administrators declared that impasse had been reached at the bargaining table and they immediately sent out termination notices.

This drastic measure will devastate our families and will put patients at risk, but it’s difficult to understand why the hospital’s executives even deem it necessary since their reasons change from week to week.

Read the full commentary at the Monterey County Herald.