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  EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Yashar Ettekal, a third-year biology student, holding sign, protests in front of the Jules Stein Eye Institute.

By Hemesh Patel

Daily Bruin Staff

A total of three people are left to clean all 10 floors and 400 beds of the medical center during the midnight shift, according to employees at the UCLA Medical Center.

Union leaders said conditions for workers and patients are being sacrificed because of downsizing in the hospital’s Unit Service Associates department, which is responsible for keeping the medical center clean.

A group of nearly 100 workers, supporters and students staged an hour-long demonstration Wednesday in front of Jules Stein Eye Institute to protest the department’s 30 percent loss of the total USAs over a three-year period.

Representatives from Consciencia Libre, Raza Woman, MEChA, the Environmental Coalition and Concerned Asian Pacific-Islander Students for Action participated in the demonstration.

“UCLA has this big name, but underneath it all, it is so dirty, literally and philosophically,” said Lakesha Harrison, a licensed vocational nurse for the Santa Monica-UCLA Hospital.

Hospital administrators say patient care isn’t threatened.

In 1993, the hospital had a patient count of 253 and a total of 200 USAs but as the patient population grew to over 350 in 2001, the number of USAs was reduced to 100, union leaders said at the protest.

Harrison said the simple solution to this problem would be to hire more employees.

On Tuesday, one day prior to the protest, a group of workers and student representatives met with administrators of the hospital to discuss the issue of employing more USAs.

Administrators made a verbal agreement to workers, indicating that progress is being made in the direction of the workers’ interests, union leaders said.

“In the past, as of Feb. 1, administrators said they will continue to downsize the USA department by 30 percent,” said fourth-year Latin American studies student, Francisco Garcia, a member of Consciencia Libre.

But the verbal agreement made on Tuesday, essentially meant nothing toward the worker’s cause, union leaders said.

“We do not accept any proposals if it is not in writing,” said Pilar Burgess, who has been a USA for 14 years.

The workers are not being laid off but instead are being transferred to other departments in the hospital where their job security is threatened, said Luu Doan, an organizer for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.

“Layoffs are not anticipated,” Doan said.

Workers said short staffing is leaving the hospital dangerously dirty and is affecting the patient health.

Associate Director of Patient Services Heidi Crooks said there is a need for improvement in terms of cleanliness at the hospital but that it didn’t threaten patient care. She said this has been an ongoing problem because the facility is old.

“Right now we’re so tight that we have two patients in every room, but in the future, when the new medical center opens, there will be one patient in each room,” Crooks said.

Organizers of the protest said this has been a problem for a while and added the uncleanliness extends beyond dust to dirty bathrooms and beds. They attributed the problem to cuts in staff.

“This has been a trend for 10 years, whenever there are budget cuts, it is always off the backs of the workers and patient care,” Doan said. “We’re not going to roll over and let them do what they’ve been doing for the last 10 years.”

While workers say that Crooks’ presence in the working area is scarce, the administrator is concerned for the cleanliness of the medical center.

“I want it to be clear that USAs are outstanding individuals and are committed to patient care,” Crooks said. “They are totally committed to have a clean environment and are doing the best they can.”

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