A Nevada health care workers union wants OSHA to investigate seven hospitals in the state, five of which are in Las Vegas, based on claims of insufficient personal protective equipment and protocols that put workers at risk.
Representing 19,000 health care workers in Nevada, SEIU Local 1107 filed legal demands Friday for a formal investigation through OSHA that would include work site visits at all of the hospitals.
In a letter sent Thursday to Terry Reynolds, director of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry that oversees Nevada OSHA, the union named Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, MountainView Hospital, Valley Hospital Medical Center and Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center in the Las Vegas area, as well as Renown Regional Medical Center and Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital in Northern Nevada as violators of safety protocols and/or federal laws.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these hospitals have failed to provide their employees with adequate gloves, eye, face protection and respiratory protection to protect them from infection, the union says. Health care workers have also been asked to reuse protective equipment that is meant for single use, and respiratory therapists and nurses have not been given Powered Air Purifying Respirator’s (“PAPRs”) when working with COVID-19 patients, the union says.
“We expect OSHA to follow through on their own self-imposed standards and immediately begin in-person visits to all SEIU-represented worksites to make sure that they meet the highest standards of health and safety,” Grace Vergara-Mactal, SEIU Local 1107 Executive Director, said in a statement.
Hospitals have also failed to tell employees who cared for COVID-19-symptomatic patients whether or not those patients later tested positive for the virus, according to the union. The federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 requires personnel to receive notification as to whether they were potentially exposed to life-threatening diseases.
“In fact, Local 1107 is aware of instances of healthcare workers encountering patients exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms during the course of performing their job duties, never being provided with any information regarding the patient’s diagnosis and then subsequently being diagnosed themselves with COVID-19,” the union wrote to Reynolds.
In addition, some health care workers have complained about being forced to work with COVID-19 patients despite that the employees or their families were at high-risk of complications from the diseases.
The alleged violations put health care workers and the public at risk, the union says.
Nevada OSHA is assessing all complaints its receives by reaching out to employers accused of violations and asking them to respond to the allegations, said to Teri Williams, public information officer for the Department of Business and Industry. The agency will conduct in-field investigations if it believes an employer provided false or misleading information or if a complainant disputes information provided by an employer.
“Nevada OSHA did receive the letter and is currently reviewing the concerns of SEIU Local 1107,” Williams wrote in an email.
HCA Healthcare, which operates the Sunrise, MountainView and Southern Hills hospitals, adheres to infection control guidelines and follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations on PPE use at its hospitals, spokesperson Dan McFadden wrote in an email. The company’s top priority is the safety of employees, patients and the community, Sunrise Hospital CEO Todd Sklamberg said in a statement.
“Sunrise Health System is aware unions are speaking out on issues like general PPE challenges across the country. Unequivocally, we ensure our Sunrise Health team members have appropriate PPE and protection at all times. This is not the time to distract from our core mission of savings lives and fighting this global pandemic,” Sklamberg said.
Valley Health System, which owns and operates Valley and Desert Springs hospitals, didn't return a request for comment.
As COVID-19 continues to spread, health care workers nationwide, including in Las Vegas, have said they are frustrated by lack of PPE and other issues in hospitals. Some have said they are afraid to go to work.
As of Thursday, 4,208 people in Nevada have tested positive for COVID-19. At least 190 people have died from complications related to the disease.