COVID-19 Outbreak and Resolution -- We've Got Your Back
Almost as soon as modified operations went into effect at OHSU on March 16, Local 328 began fielding concerns and complaints from our members about the state of safety standards in the Food and Nutrition department. Concerns about overcrowding, a lack of social distancing, misinformation about the nature of COVID-19 and many other unsafe conditions came flooding in. Our union first shared these concerns with senior management in the department, as well as with the department’s HR business partner, on March 17; more concerns were shared with management in the following days. In general, the concerns were ignored, were excused away or just weren’t followed up on -- by the very people at OHSU who should have taken such concerns seriously. On March 24, our union raised a specific concern about the risk of exposure that the workers in Food and Nutrition were facing. Local 328 continued to raise the alarm, eventually alerting senior HR leadership about our concerns.
Late last week, two employees in the department tested positive for COVID-19. Unfortunately, management did not take the proper steps to quell the spread of the infection. Instead, there was poor communication, a continued laissez-faire attitude toward social distancing and a lack of contact tracing. Senior management in the department continued to not take the situation seriously enough, despite complaints from members, lead workers, front-line supervisors and our union. On April 2, a member shared a comprehensive document outlining the issues; that document, along with a host of other concerns, was shared with senior HR leadership. At the point it was clear that COVID-19 was going to spread within the Food and Nutrition department, OHSU began to take steps to ensure safety.
This culminated in a meeting on April 7 in which our union laid out a plan to senior HR leadership to tackle the issue. Local 328 commends senior OHSU leadership, including Greg Moawad, Gina Hawley and Dr. Danny Jacobs for their actions over the last few days to help right the ship. That said, the heroes of this situation are the front-line members whose health was put at risk and who bravely stepped forward -- risking their jobs -- to report their concerns to our union so that we could take action. The following plan is the product of the April 7 meeting:
OHSU will appoint a crisis manager to confirm adherence to coronavirus expectations within F&N. Goals include:
To oversee (i) the maximum curtailment of staff while maintaining operations, (ii) appropriate physical distancing, (iii) opportunities for appropriate hygiene, (iv) the connecting of employees to COVID-19 resources, etc.;
To respond in a timely manner to locations where employee concerns arise, from employees or the union;
To seek feedback from employees on what is working and what is not;
To provide senior HR leadership with a daily update on areas of concern/observations/actions taken/employee check-ins, which will be shared with AFSCME leadership daily.
Exposure plans:
OHSU will provide details regarding the extent of contact tracing regularly being performed, including that it is occurring for patients with suspected contact with positive employees;
OHSU will work to move to in-person or telephonic notifications for F&N employees who are suspected contacts given their lack of access to email, including involving interpreter services as deemed necessary; and,
When appropriate, all employees who came into contact with employees or patients who tested positive will self-quarantine, as called for in the “OHSU Criteria for Staff Exposures to Confirmed COVID-19” document. Employees with qualifying exposures will be placed on paid leave.
OHSU will review the decisions and actions by F&N and HR employees as related to cluster development and the concerns contained in Local 328 staff rep Ross Grami’s documentation of managerial actions during the crisis.
OHSU will be conducting F&N employee training on the coronavirus and infection prevention steps, such as hygiene, social distancing and proper PPE wear. The training will be adapted to various languages as necessary.
OHSU will provide timely, up-to-date directives on key issues to each manager as new practices develop. As the union becomes aware of issues, they will be raised directly to the crisis manager and appropriate staff.
OHSU has developed posters for proper employee safety, as well as a coronavirus FAQ, for placement within the F&N. These will be translated as well.
OHSU is developing a communication to all F&N employees regarding the cluster, including information about calling out sick when symptomatic, as relayed to members in a recent message from the union president.
OHSU is developing a plan to maintain functional operations if the spread of coronavirus hinders F&N’s ability to properly staff, up to and including moving some or all food preparation off Marquam Hill to the South Waterfront or rented space.
OHSU is considering and working to develop a proposal for an OHSU contribution to in-home family members of employees who become ill as a direct result of an employee's workplace exposure to COVID-19.
OHSU will develop a workers’ compensation response plan to proactively reach out to all F&N employees who contract COVID-19 as a result of a workplace exposure.
Subject to confidentiality restrictions pertaining to employment and medical records (which prohibit identifying the employee), OHSU will communicate to AFSCME leadership when new positive COVID-19 tests develop in F&N.
The above is in addition to the steps OHSU unilaterally put in place for Food and Nutrition this past weekend, which included proper social distancing, universal testing, having Occupational Health employees attend unit huddles, etc.
The next few days and weeks will undoubtedly be hard for our members who work in Food and Nutrition. We unfortunately expect to see an increase in COVID-19 cases within the department -- at the time of this writing there are eight confirmed cases. This is a tragic failure on the part of management. However, our union is so proud of the workers who stepped up from within the department and reported concerns and safety violations. Local 328 has been fighting hard to ensure that the situation is rectified.
This is not over, however. We must ensure that the framework of the above plan is executed well. Just as important, our union has demanded accountability for those in management who needlessly put our members and their families, our patients and our community at risk. Those at the highest levels of the organization are working with us on this and taking the concerns seriously.
Our union has known of serious issues -- and has been calling for changes -- in Food and Nutrition for the past year, if not longer. This pandemic and the subsequent safety failures have finally pushed things to the forefront. Those changes are going to come, and we will continue to fight on behalf of our members.
Please continue to report, please continue to come forward and please continue to serve the public as bravely and nobly as you have. We have your back.