Union hospitals perform worse – Washington Examiner

The Department of Health and Human Services, through its Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, scores hospitals across the country annually on a five-star scale based on safety, mortality rates, readmission rates, patient experience, and the degree to which care is offered in a timely and effective manner. Acute care hospitals in California with staff represented by the SEIU had an average score of 2.37 stars in 2024, which is 0.77 stars lower than the nonunion hospital average and 0.75 stars lower than the average at hospitals with staff represented by other unions, according to data compiled by the Center for Union Facts. 

Center for Union Facts, a right-of-center organization critical of organized labor, went a step further in its analysis by accounting for the possible impact of household income on patient outcomes. Poor people tend to have worse baseline health, which may negatively affect mortality or readmission rates at hospitals serving economically depressed areas. 

To address the possible confounding variable, Center for Union Facts performed a regression, a type of statistical analysis that can measure the impact of one variable while holding another constant. It found that SEIU-represented hospitals still perform worse than nonunion hospitals even when the wealth of the areas surrounding them is taken into account. Per the analysis, SEIU representation is associated with a hospital receiving 0.79 fewer stars than a nonunion facility on CMS’s rating scale when controlling for local household income. 

“The data suggest that the SEIU is hurting, not helping hospitals,” Center for Union Facts communications director Charlyce Bozzello told the Washington Examiner. “The union has a controversial history of hospital strikes that threaten patient care and even alleged mistreatment of its own employees by high-ranking union officials. As union membership continues to plummet across the country, patients and workers alike should ask if aligning with the SEIU is really beneficial for patient outcomes.”

By the SEIU’s own admission, some of its hospitals have had “major retention problems.” In recent years, there have been a number of reports about hostile work environments in healthcare facilities staffed by SEIU workers. 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.

Another factor possibly contributing to the relatively low rating of SEIU-represented hospitals is the frequency with which their workers go on strike. In June 2024, for instance, a federal arbitrator ordered a local SEIU affiliate to pay $6.26 million in damages to Riverside Community Hospital after it engaged in an unlawful strike during the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, thousands of SEIU nurses have engaged in strikes across the state in a ploy to squeeze financial concessions from hospitals. 

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Historically, the SEIU has counted itself as a major supporter of the Democratic Party. In 2024, the union spent tens of millions of dollars in independent expenditures and contributions to help Democrats win elections. Additionally, the union engaged in internal voter mobilization efforts to support liberal candidates, claiming it spent $200 million during the most recent election cycle. 

While the Center for Union Facts did control for household income, it stated that it did not control for patient demographics or the ownership system hospitals were part of, which could also affect patient outcomes. Some studies have found that unionization at hospitals does improve patient outcomes.

The SEIU did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.