More than 170 SEIU members from throughout the greater Los Angeles area interviewed local political candidates and made recommendations for endorsement to Local leaders yesterday. Members from Locals 99, 721, 1000, 2004, UHW, ULTCW and USWW participated, as did Guillerma Herrera, a registered nurse at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and a Local 121RN member.

Herrera asked all the panelists the question: “What would you do if elected to make nurse-to-patient ratios stronger?”

Dr. Ed Hernandez, a candidate for Senate District 24, said, “We have a huge shortage of healthcare providers and nurses in the state of California. Hospitals are stealing nurses from each other. We need more nurses and nursing education. We need to do whatever we can to increase the number of nurses in California.”

“The current nurse-to-patient levels we have should be the Holy Grail – they should never go back,” said Kevin De Leon, candidate for Senate District 22. “Especially if we have healthcare reform, we have to make sure we keep those levels.”

Carmen Avalos, candidate for Assembly District 50, said she saw first-hand as a biomedical researcher how there’s a lack of care at hospitals. “As a nurse, if you report problems with ratios, you can be sanctioned or receive what they call ‘under-the-table’ discipline. I want to make it so nurses can report problems without these things happening.”

Ricardo Lara, also running for Assembly District 50, told those in attendance of his recent tour of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center with Local 121RN members. He said he fully supports nurse-to-patient ratios and will do everything he can to protect and reinforce them.

Assembly District 57 hopeful Roger Hernandez was passionate about not only maintaining current nurse-to-patient ratios, but wants to lower them even more. “Most hospitals can afford to lower ratios and we can work with those who can’t.”

Tony Price, an x-ray technician at Centinela Hospital and member of United Healthcare Workers, asked those running how they would go about enforcing seismic upgrades required of hospitals by 2013.

“We need enforcement and harsh penalties for hospitals not meeting the requirements,” said Darcel Woods, candidate for Assembly District 59.

Both fellow panelists De Leon and Ed Hernandez echoed Woods.
“We need to make sure those deadlines are met and enforced when the hospital has the money,” Hernandez said. “An extension is only available in dire circumstances.”

“There are some hospitals with hardships, but we have to crack down on those hospitals that flaunt the law and put patients and workers in jeopardy,” De Leon said.

The candidates interviewed were:
Assembly District 50
Ricardo Lara
Luis Marquez
Carmen Avalos

Assembly District 57
Roger Hernandez
Monica Garcia

Senate District 24
Dr. Ed Hernandez

Senate District 22
Kevin De Leon

Assembly District 59
Darcel Woods

Los Angeles Assessor
John Noguez

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Offices
#28 Chris Garcia & Mark Ameli
#117 Tom Griego & Alan K. Schneider
#107 Valerie Salkin

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