UCSD Health Layoffs Hurt Patient Care

When I heard that over two hundred of my coworkers at UCSD Health had been laid off without notice, my heart sank. How could a health system that was spending hundreds of millions of dollars buying new hospitals and giving big raises to its executives justify laying off the frontline workers who deliver care to patients?

Having worked with many of these folks for years, my first thoughts were of worry for them and their families. As the news sank in, however, I couldn’t get another worry out of my head:

What does this mean for my healthcare?

After suffering a life-altering car accident back in March, I did what so many San Diegans do. I turned to UCSD Health for treatment.

For me, the decision was a no-brainer. I’ve lived in Hillcrest for 15 years and worked at Hillcrest Medical Center as a Respiratory Therapist for 6 years. I love my job and working with neighbors who rely on UCSD Health to care for themselves and their loved ones. I love my coworkers, who put their all into giving the top-quality care that has earned UCSD Health numerous accolades.

I have seen the way my colleagues push themselves to give our patients the best, often to the detriment of our own health. We show up and give our all every single day. In return, UCSD Health has shown they consider us expendable.

I didn’t lose my job during these layoffs, but I did lose nearly every appointment I had lined up as a patient.

Months-long scheduling delays might not seem like a big deal to those on top. Having received a 57% raise over the past three years, CEO Patty Maysent makes more than enough to hire an out-of-network specialist for any pressing health concerns.

But most of us can’t afford expensive specialists. While preventative care is the ideal, many of us can only afford to access care when we absolutely need it. Delays are more than just a scheduling inconvenience: without timely treatment, patient health outcomes can decline significantly. For me, my pain has become increasingly hard to manage, keeping me from getting back to the work I love.

Even before the layoffs, our system was already overburdened and understaffed. We cannot meet the current demand for patient care. An E.R. patient already sees us on one of the worst days of their life. When we’re at capacity, the E.R. fills up rapidly, and patients can be stranded in hospital hallways awaiting care.

In my department, this has meant each worker often has to handle the workload of two, many times with limited help and resources. These practices are still the norm here, and yet their solution is to cut 240 additional frontline workers. It isn’t just reckless; it was also done illegally. By law, UCSD Health is required to give advance notice and work with its unions to find alternative solutions to layoffs and mitigate their effects. They did not do any of this.

UCSD Health says these cuts are due to budget pressures, but we know better. Financial data presented to the UC Board of Regents show that UCSD health’s profits are expected to double over the next decade. Hospital Executives split $1.4M in incentive bonuses this year, while the average laid-off worker made an annual salary of just $66K. UCSD also spent $200 million buying a new hospital and is currently negotiating with another health system to purchase two more hospitals in the coming months, apparently without consideration for who will staff them.

The bottom line is that proper staffing should not be secondary priorities for any healthcare system. Patient care must always be at the heart of what we do, across every level. At UCSD, that means hiring these essential healthcare workers back and keeping safe staffing levels across every department.

The good news is, we as patients have the power to speak up. We have the power to demand better for ourselves, our community, and those who work tirelessly to keep us healthy.

And we must.

Bianca Brown has worked as a Respiratory Therapist for six years at UCSD Hillcrest. She has lived in the neighborhood for the past 15 years. She is a Member Action Team leader at the union that represents her and the impacted workers, AFSCME 3299.