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Workers, managers and physicians team up and leverage Partnership principles and methods to combat COVID-19.
As we move toward the “next normal,” the Labor Management Partnership has played a key part in supporting COVID-19 vaccinations.
Frontline workers, doctors and managers have come together to get shots in arms. These fruitful collaborations point the way forward as Kaiser Permanente and the Partnership unions work to transform fear into confidence, confusion into clarity, and hesitancy into bold action.
A joint effort between SEIU-UHW and physicians pushed vaccination rates of the union’s members from less than 50% all the way up to 64% within 3 months. It began when union leaders crunched the numbers — and didn’t like what they saw.
At the beginning of February, less than half of SEIU-UHW members at Kaiser Permanente were vaccinated against COVID-19. For instance, only 40% of union employees were vaccinated in the Emergency Department at Downey Medical Center in Southern California, where Gabriel Montoya works as an emergency medical technician.
Montoya and his fellow union members — working with physicians and managers — wanted to raise those rates, so they pulled together labor-doctor huddles. Union members were scared, confused and hesitant.
At first, they considered joint physician-labor rounding. But they realized being in patient areas wouldn’t support those conversations, so they pivoted to huddles — short, informal team meetings.
Carol Ishimatsu, MD, a pediatrician with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, was one of the first doctors to join a huddle in Downey.
“Vaccines are our most important intervention,” says Dr. Ishimatsu, who participated in the clinical trials for the shots when they were being tested.
To build trust, Dr. Ishimatsu emphasized her shared experience with SEIU-UHW members as warriors on the front line. “I told the employees: I do the same thing you do after work,” she says, describing her ritual of removing her clothes in the garage and putting them directly in the washing machine before entering the house. “We are in different professions, doing the same thing.”
Joel Valenciano, an Environmental Services manager at Downey, helped organize huddles at outlying clinics.
“I encouraged the staff to be honest, relate their fears and doubts, anything holding them back,” he says. “And they really opened up.”
“We did it in partnership,” says Montoya, the emergency medical technician. “The labor partners led the huddles and introduced the doctors.
I can’t imagine that happening in a nonunion hospital, or even a non-Partnership hospital.”
Here are 3 ways to build confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines and increase vaccinations:
Natalie Rasmussen, one of the Humans of Partnership.
As a nurse in mental health, I try to focus on something that brings me joy every day, especially during the tough times. It’s the personal connection with others that brings me joy. Laughing with others and having deep conversations about how we feel about our life’s journey and sharing what goals we have for the future build that strong sense of community. Being inclusive of everyone, having empathy, and hearing what the person feels – and needs – are crucial. I say to my friends that my job in life is to love people, encourage them and make it easier for them.
Meet Juanita Kamhoot, one of the Humans of Partnership.
I moved out of our family home for 3 months last year when COVID hit. I rented Airbnbs and lived out of my minivan. I showered in the hospital locker room and ate the meals Kaiser Permanente provided to staff. I did my laundry in laundromats. It was hard but I couldn’t risk exposing my family. We were scared. We didn’t know what COVID was or what it was going to do. When the vaccinations came out, I asked a pathologist, 'Yes or no?' He knew what I was talking about and he said, 'Yes!' So, I got the shot. The worst thing for me last year was missing my family. Now I feel like we have a chance to stop the spread.