REGION — A day after Sharp HealthCare announced it was laying off 315 of its employees, an additional 40 Sharp medical office workers voted unanimously to join SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, it was announced this week.
The election took place by mail from June 9 to June 30 to join the union, which represents 120,000 healthcare workers across California. The medical office workers at all six offices known as SharpCare in Coronado, Chula Vista, La Mesa, San Diego, Santee and Spring Valley join 6,000 Sharp workers across the region — including more than 650 earlier this year.
“We voted to unionize for the same reason so many other healthcare workers across San Diego have — to provide better care for our patients and a better life for our families,” said Sharmaine Figueroa, a medical administrative assistant at SharpCare Coronado. “Now we have a voice to improve patient care. Now we’ll be able to provide our loved ones a better, more stable future.”
The workers who unionized Tuesday join those at Sharp Metropolitan Campus, Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Sharp Grossmont Hospital and Sharp HospiceCare who bargained for a contract in November that includes pay increases of up to 34% over three years, “major improvements to medical benefits, and a strong voice for workers in staffing and patient care,” a statement from the union reads.
“We’re not stopping at Sharp,” said Alicia Bradley, an anesthesia technician at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital. “I know healthcare workers at other facilities in San Diego. They’ve seen how much our new contract improves things for patients, workers, and this whole community, and they’re ready to join us in SEIU-UHW.”
Sharp’s leaders announced on Monday that the company was cutting hundreds of positions due to “dramatic changes over the last five years,” according to a statement from the company.
The cuts represent about 1.5% of Sharp’s workforce and include some executive and management positions.
“Our employees are the heart of our organization, and we value each and every one of them,” Sharp CEO Chris Howard said.
“We do not make these decisions lightly nor without compassion for those impacted, and we are committed to supporting those affected during this challenging transition with career transition support, severance packages, extended health care coverage and other resources to assist them in continuing their careers.”
According to the company, the majority of the cuts were in non-clinical positions, “resulting in minimal impact to direct patient care.” Senior executives will reduce their compensation by 15%, and Howard will take a 25% cut, he said.
Howard said rising costs are due to increasing labor costs, “state-mandated” seismic requirements, and less reimbursement from Medicare, Medi-Cal, and commercial insurers.
“The daunting financial headwinds health care systems nationwide have been facing are not letting up,” said Brett McClain, Sharp HealthCare’s Chief Operating Officer.
“While workforce reductions are always our last choice, we had to act now to align our resources with strategic priorities, navigate the financial challenges in health care, and ensure long-term organizational sustainability.”
Paloma Aguirre, Imperial Beach mayor and candidate in Tuesday’s San Diego County Supervisors Election, laid the blame on the current presidential administration for underfunding health care.
“I’m deeply alarmed by Sharp Healthcare’s decision to lay off hundreds of workers, which will hurt working families and put patients at risk,” she said in a statement.
“Let’s be clear: this is happening because Trump and Republicans in Congress are slashing Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the rich. We need a supervisor who will stand up to this crazy MAGA agenda that leaves working families behind.”
Last week, UC San Diego Health cut 230 positions — also around roughly 1.5% of its workforce — citing “financial pressures caused by federal impacts to health care, regulatory uncertainty and rising costs of providing care combined with reimbursement rates from Medicare, Medicaid and insurers that fail to keep pace with the true cost of care,” according to a statement from the hospital system.
