Union pleas for Mercy Hospital of Buffalo to hire more cleaning staff

June 14, 2021  |  Published by WKBW Buffalo. Click here to read the full piece. 

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The president of CWA Local 1133, the union representing workers at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, said the hospital is facing a shortage of workers across the board.

"Of course you've got the nurses, they're low staffed. Respiratory is desperately short staffed. We need respiratory therapists like crazy. Our dietary department is short. Our transport department is short, pretty much everywhere you go," Jackie Ettipio, president of CWA Local 1133, said.

Ettipio said her biggest concern is the shortage of environmental services positions (EVA) or cleaning staff.

We're getting through a big pandemic where everything is so contagious, and now it's like a third world country. You're walking in and knowing there's chances. Who knows what's growing on everything because it hasn't been cleaned appropriately?" Ettipio said.

Click here to read the full piece.