Despite a strike by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the union representing patient care and service employees, both the Westwood and Santa Monica campuses of the UCLA Health System will remain open on Wednesday, Nov. 20, providing the safest and highest quality care to our patients. With careful planning and the professionalism and dedication of many union employees who have decided to put patients first and come to work, the UCLA Health System is taking care of the health care needs of our community.
Anticipating that some AFSCME employees would not come to work, the UCLA Health System took numerous steps to protect patient safety. We postponed about 20 percent of the elective surgeries scheduled for Nov. 20. Approximately 325 replacement workers and redeployed administration staff will fill in for striking workers in positions ranging from housekeeping staff to respiratory therapists and nursing assistants. The estimated cost of the one-day strike to UCLA is more than $2.5 million, which reflects lost revenue and expenditures for replacement workers.
Patient care facilities that could be impacted include Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center; UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center; UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital; the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital; and the UCLA Health System's community and outpatient clinics.
"We sincerely regret any inconvenience this strike may cause our patients and their families and friends," said Dr. Tom Rosenthal, chief medical officer for the UCLA Hospital System. "However, every effort is being made to ensure that the hospitals and clinics that are part of the UCLA Health System remain open and continue to deliver the highest level of patient care and safety through the duration of the strike."
The highest priority at UCLA Health System hospitals and clinics is to provide patients with safe, high-quality care.
AFSCME represents about 3,800 UCLA Health System employees.
UCLA Health System Media Contact:
To request an interview with a UCLA Health System spokesperson available after 6 a.m. on Nov. 20, contact UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations at:
310-794-0777 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
310-825-6301 (all other times; ask for the public information officer on call)
For Questions Regarding the UCOP/AFSCME Contract Negotiations:
Call the University of California Office of the President at 510-987-9200.
Parking Instructions for News Media:
Media vans should first attempt to park along the yellow curbed area on Gayley Avenue, just south of Young Drive South. If that fills, please park in the right-turn lane of southbound Westwood Plaza, between the UCLA Medical Plaza driveway and Le Conte Avenue. (Use "760 Westwood Plaza" if you are doing a Google Maps search for the staging location on Westwood.) Reporters arriving in regulars cars must obtain parking permits at the kiosk on Westwood Plaza, just north of Young Drive South and park in Parking Structure 8, adjacent to the kiosk. Self-serve pay-station parking is also available on Level 4 of Parking Structure 8. (See Map)
