Smashed teeth, broken ribs, and punches to the face are a daily occurrence for Alameda Health System healthcare workers.

Workers at Alameda County’s Fairmont and John George Psychiatric Hospitals join a chorus of Bay Area healthcare workers protesting assaults on the job as federal and California reports confirm healthcare leads all other professions for workplace violence.

They’ll Rally TODAY at Noon at 2060 Fairmont Dr, San Leandro

San Leandro—Workers at Fairmont and John George Psychiatric Hospitals in San Leandro have long been subjected to violence on the job. On Wednesday, March 20, at noon, they’ll be rallying to say “No more!”

AHS workers aren’t alone. Healthcare workers nationwide are five times more likely than workers overall to experience a violent injury, according to federal statistics.  California hospitals logged nearly 10,000 violent incidents annually in recent years.

John George is the only emergency psychiatric hospital in the East Bay. It serves a mostly low-income population of people experiencing psychiatric crises, including those held against their will when deemed by law enforcement officers or healthcare workers. According to workers at the facility, the assaults and injuries they’ve sustained are a litany of the worst kind of treatment: pulled hair; broken noses; broken ribs; bites; punches to the face and head; broken teeth and jaws; being knocked over; being choked; getting knocked unconscious; being spat at; inappropriate touching; scratches; fractured fingers; and assault with bodily fluids.

John George management’s own records indicate the depth of the crisis, including one report that declared the facility was averaging an assault per day in 2023, with 71 of those assaults resulting in physical injuries.

Workers believe many of these could be avoided with proper staffing, training, and other support and resources that don’t leave a patient to be dealt with by a single worker at a time. So far, AHS management has not committed to resolve the long-standing safety issues, but the rallying workers are committed to hold them accountable.

Tawanda Gilbert is a Mental Health Specialist 2 at John George. She said, “We’re going to rally on March 20 to hold AHS management accountable. As workers, we all deserve a safe workplace. We need training, resources, support, and staffing so we can provide safe and adequate care for our patients and keep ourselves safe on the job”

Who: Fairmont and John George Psychiatric Hospital workers

What: Rally for safety

Where: 2060 Fairmont Dr, San Leandro, CA 94578

When: March 20, 2024, at noon

SEIU Local 1021 represents over 60,000 employees in local governments, non-profit agencies, health care programs, and schools throughout Northern California, including more than 3,000 workers across Alameda Health System, Alameda County’s safety-net medical provider. SEIU Local 1021 is a diverse, member-driven organization with members who work to make our cities, schools, colleges, counties, and special districts safe and healthy places to live and raise our families. We nurse our sick, educate our children, clean our schools, and care for our seniors and developmentally disabled.