Update on your hospital and the Coronavirus

March 2, 2020

Dear SEIU Local 121RN Members:

This is a follow-up to an email I sent you early last month about the request for information we sent to your employers. We asked them to provide details on concrete steps and protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in your hospitals.

Many of your hospitals provided details on how they are responding to this developing health concern. Learn more here.

All SEIU 121RN members are urged to take a leading role.

We ask that you…

take a moment to carefully review your hospital's documents here, or
if your hospital has not yet responded, please work with your Stewards or your Union Rep/Organizer to follow up with hospital management.

It's up to all of us to ensure that your hospitals follow their safety policies.

Please alert hospital management and your Union Stewards and Union Rep/Organizer of any COVID-19 issues, concerns or lapses in adhering to safety protocols. Because you are on the front line in your hospitals, you are often the first to spot problems.

As a Union, you have the strength of your numbers to continue to take the lead—just like SEIU Nurses have done for decades when we…

successfully fought to care for AIDS patients,
ensured that safety needles became mandatory,
won nurse-to-patient ratio regulations and
fought for workplace standards to protect against aerosol transmissible diseases, unsafe patient handling, hospital violence and more.

As I mentioned last time, If you have concerns about your hospital’s response to this health concern, please contact your Steward or your Union Rep/Organizer or reply directly to this email.

In Unity,

Rosanna Mendez Executive Director, SEIU Local 121RN