News of the Month — August 2020

NewsAugust 26, 2020

The website CounterPunch published an article about NUHW’s advocacy for COVID-19 safety protocols.

While most hospitals still refuse to test workers for COVID-19, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will become the first U.S. airport to provide free on-site rapid coronavirus testing for its employees. 

While Providence St. Joseph tries to quickly purchase two public hospitals in Sonoma County, Attorney General Xavier Becerra is seeking the power to block future acquisitions that could limit competition and drive up prices. 

More than 900 front-line healthcare workers have died of COVID-19, according to an interactive database unveiled last week by The Guardian and KHN.

At least 15,800 essential workers would not have contracted COVID-19 if California had stockpiled enough masks and other protective equipment, while the state would have saved $93 million weekly on unemployment claims for out of work healthcare workers and avoided overpaying for supplies, according to a UC Berkeley Labor Center study released Wednesday.

This San Francisco Examiner story mentions that NUHW members have been advocating for the passage of SB 855, a major mental health care reform bill in California.