According to studies solely from the Washington Examiner, California hospitals staffed by nurses who are members of the Service Employees International Union perform considerably worse on average in terms of individual outcomes than employers hospitals and other hospitals with workers who are members of various unions.
The Department of Health and Human Services, through its Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, scores hospitals across the country periodically on a five-star range based on health, mortality rates, admittance rates, individual expertise, and the degree to which care is offered in a timely and efficient manner. According to information collected by the Center for Union Facts, acute care facilities in California with team members affiliated with the SEIU had an average score of 2.37 actors in 2024, which is 0.77 stars lower than the average for nonunion facilities and 0.75 stars lower than the average for those hospitals with team members affiliated with various unions.
The right-of-center organization Center for Union Facts, which is critical of organized labor, went one step further in its analysis by considering the potential impact of household income on patient outcomes. Poor baseline health is a common factor in higher mortality and readmission rates in hospitals that serve economically depressed areas.
Center for Union Facts conducted a regression analysis, a statistical technique that can assess the impact of one variable while maintaining another constant, to address the potential confounding variable. Even when the wealth of the areas around them is taken into account, it was discovered that SEIU-represented hospitals still perform worse than nonunion hospitals. When controlling for local household income, SEIU representation is associated with a hospital receiving 0.79 fewer stars than a nonunion facility on the CMS rating scale.
According to Center for Union Facts communications director Charlyce Bozzello,” the data suggests that the SEIU is hurting, not helping hospitals.” The union has a contentious history of hospital strikes that threaten patient care and even allege that union officials have treated its own employees unfairly. Patients and workers alike should be enquiring if aligning with the SEIU is really beneficial for patient outcomes as union membership continues to decline across the nation.
Nurses from National Nurses United practice social distancing as they protest in front of the White House, Tuesday, April 21, 2020, in Washington| ( Patrick Semansky/AP )
By the SEIU’s own admission, some of its hospitals have had “major retention problems”. There have recently been reports of hostile work environments being worked in SEIU-staffed healthcare facilities. The president, vice president, and division director of the SEIU-UHW, for instance, have all been accused of sexual misconduct, and California SEIU branches have been subject to multiple lawsuits alleging wrongful termination, illegal due requests, worker intimidation, and retaliation.
The frequency with which their employees go on strike may be a contributing factor to the hospital’s relatively low rating. For instance, in June 2024, a federal arbitrator the%20CBA.%E2%80%9D” title=””>ordered a neighborhood SEIU affiliate to pay Riverside Community Hospital$ 6.26 million in damages after it carried out an unlawful strike during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to extort money from hospitals, SEIU nurses have been staging strikes across the state in recent months.
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Historically, the SEIU has counted itself as a major supporter of the Democratic Party. The union used tens of millions of dollars in contributions and independent expenditures to support Democrats ‘ election victories in 2024. Additionally, the union engaged in internal voter mobilization efforts to support liberal candidates, claiming it spent$ 200 million during the most recent election cycle.
Although the Center for Union Facts did have control over household income, it claimed that it did not have control over patient demographics or the ownership system hospitals were a part of, which might have had an impact on patient outcomes. According to some studies, hospital unionization actually improves patient outcomes.
The SEIU did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
