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Our community
deserves better.
My name is Donna Qualls, and I work in the
Surgery department at Emanuel Hospital.
I’ve lived in Northeast Portland my whole life.
I’ve worked at Emanuel for thirty-three years.
My daughter was born here. My friends, family,
and neighbors come here, and I feel like they
deserve the best care possible.
It's very important to me to be able to serve my
community and give them the care they need.
In order to do that, we need safe, consistent
staffing, a stable workforce, and a low turnover
rate. When experienced • staff leave and we
bring in new people who are just learning their
jobs, the quality of care declines.
Experienced caregivers at the top of the pay
scale at Emanuel are paid less than experi­
enced caregivers anywhere else in the Legacy
system. At over $200/month for family cover­
age, many of us can’t even afford the health
care we work so hard to provide.
Low pay has a direct impact on the quality
of care we provide to our community. When
everybody knows they can make more money
at another hospital, they don’t stay long at
Emanuel. In many crucial patient care
classifications, such as Emergency Techs,
Patient Transporters, and Certified Nursing
Assistants, more than 70% have been on the
job less than five years.
Legacy is letting our
community down.
Legacy is a profitable health system. It can
and should provide fair compensation for
caregivers at Emanuel to reduce turnover and
improve the quality of care we provide.
Please support
Legacy caregivers.
To get involved, visit www.seiu49.org.
A message from the health care workers of SEIU Local 49
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