By Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
For the past few years, medical centers throughout the
University of California have been understaffed, leaving many
concerned about compromised patient care and employee burnout.
Now, with anthrax scares running rampant across the country and
people fearing a public health disaster, members of the University
Professional and Technical Employees union say the UC medical
centers are ill-prepared to respond to the public’s need in
the case of such an emergency.
“The University of California Medical Centers are one act
of bioterrorism ““ one outbreak of epidemic ““ away from
a public health emergency with which we may not be able to
cope,” reads a draft of the letter UPTE members plan on
sending to UC president Richard Atkinson.
UCLA officials said the union is using the terrorist events as a
scare tactic to assert that the Medical Center is not prepared to
respond to a disaster.
Michael Karpf, director of the UCLA Medical Center, said it is
inappropriate and irresponsible of the union to link the
university’s preparedness for handling an emergency with the
Sept. 11 events and added that UCLA is not ready to respond to
UPTE’s claims.
“We will rise to the occasion to face whatever challenges
are presented to us,” Karpf said. “I have the utmost
confidence in our staff that they will respond to the best of their
ability.”
In the letter, some workers voiced concerns that hospital
officials are using the terrorist attacks to discourage staff
members from continuing their fight for wage increases.
“Shame on you, and shame on those who are representing you
at the bargaining table for using the tragic events of Sept. 11 to
try and browbeat us into accepting a contract that would serve only
to harm our hospitals and ultimately deny services to people in
need,” reads the letter to Atkinson.
Members of UPTE, a union which represents more than 30 job
descriptions and 2,000 health care officials across the state, is
bargaining with university officials for salary adjustments and
equity wage increases.
“Because of short-staffing, workloads are doubled (and)
employees are tired and burned-out,” said Wendy Mullen, chief
negotiator for the health care bargaining team.
“There’s an increased risk for mistakes ““ which
could put patient care at risk.”
But officials at the hospital indicated that the UCLA Medical
Center is not as understaffed as other hospitals, and that the
staff is ready to respond to a disaster.
The Medical Center had an anthrax scare a year and a half ago
and, according to Karpf, it was dealt with in a professional and
effective manner.
One group of workers confirmed that they’re ready if
disaster strikes.
“We’re ready if something happens,” said
Kristin Eldridge, labor representative for the California Nurses
Association, which represents 8,000 people across the state.
“We’ll be on top of things.”
Karpf said the vacancy rate of hospital positions in the state
is 9.1 percent, but at UCLA the figure is only 5.9 percent.
However, situations of understaffing are all too familiar for
employees like Gail Garcia, who has worked as a recreational
therapist at the Medical Center for 31 years.
“One person went on vacation for three weeks, and there
was no one to cover her,” she explained.
Additionally, safety problems can become an issue because
incoming workers are under-trained, Garcia said.
UPTE members claimed hospitals are understaffed because the
salaries health-care employees make do not compare with those of
other health care providers.
According to union members, salary range adjustments would take
away the discrepancy with newly-hired employees, who are sometimes
paid more than those who have worked at the same job for a longer
time.
Mullen said clinical laboratory technicians at the university
are paid four of five dollars more than those who have been at the
same job for a longer amount of time.
The union is also fighting to make the pay for Medical Center
staff equal to salaries made by medical staff outside the
university. According to Mullen, pharmacists at UCLA make 12-15
percent less than their counterparts in the community.
Karpf countered that the university routinely makes adjustments
to keep salaries equal.
When the two sides last met at the bargaining table in late
September, those representing the university gave UPTE a final
offer of a 2-percent pay raise.
The union, which did not accept the offer, is asking for a pay
raise to match the cost of living in their area, Mullen said.
Last Monday, UPTE members walked into Karpf’s office to
present the director with a card quilt bearing the names of the
half of the health care employees who support the bargaining
process.
Clarification:In the story “UC med
centers may not be prepared for health disaster” (News, Oct.
17), it was wrongly implied that UCLA labor representative Kristin
Eldridge did not support UPTE’s desire for increased staffing
levels. posted 10/31/01