Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), who provide the vast majority of our funding, have conducted site visits and an investigation into a number of on-site infractions. As a result, the hospital is required to implement a Closure and Patient Transfer and Relocation Plan while we all continue to work towards recertification.

This news does not mean that Laguna Honda will close immediately, or at all if we stick together. The hospital remains open, and our members will continue to provide excellent patient care to our city’s most vulnerable. As a union, we are committed to fighting against any possible closure. We will work with management, as well as federal and state partners, to ensure workers have a voice in fixing the systemic problems that brought us here while aggressively supporting the recertification efforts.

As a longtime employee of Laguna Honda Hospital, I feel angry, frustrated, and heartbroken. I know you do, too—but we cannot feel despair. We have to fight.

Save Laguna Honda Hospital Rally

Wednesday, May 18 at 12 pm
Main Pavilion Entrance
In front of the new building
RSVP here

While it will feel jarring to see management implement their Closure and Patient Relocation Plan, now is the time for us to work together as equals with elected officials and DPH leadership to fix these problems and keep our doors open. 

Nobody is going to do this for us.

We are in a challenging situation right now. But I am not feeling despair, I am feeling determined. We will be working alongside DPH leadership and the consultants they have retained to aggressively pursue a plan to recertify our hospital. We can save Laguna Honda hospital for ourselves and our patients, but only if frontline workers and management are committed to fighting. Are you with us?
 

Theresa Rutherford
SEIU 1021 VP of San Francisco
Certified Nursing Assistant at Laguna Honda Hospital