Hundreds of nurses and health care workers began a five-day strike against St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood Monday.
The strike began at 6:30 a.m. and is expected to continue until Saturday morning.
It is not related to the 75,000 worker strike that took place last week against Kaiser, but the issues are very similar.
“They make short staffing a standard of care here, and it’s just really sad for the community,” RN Scott Byington said.
The 600 registered nurses and 900 health care workers, including nursing assistants, medical assistants, emergency room technicians and respiratory therapists, are demanding adequate staffing and better wages.
Workers say the hospital is understaffed nearly every day and on every shift.
The problems are blamed on the 2020 purchase of the hospital by Prime Healthcare.
Since then, workers say the company has terminated 20% of experienced RNs and cut their pay by 12%.
The turnover rate at the hospital is over 50%, United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UNCP) stated.
St. Francis Medical Center issued a statement Monday in response to the strike.
“St. Francis Medical Center continues to bargain in good faith with union leadership with the goal of reaching agreements in the best interests of the hospital, its employees, and most importantly, those who we serve,” a portion of the statement read.
The Medical Center also stated they are committed to “remaining open with qualified staff to provide quality patient care to the community.”