Facts Matter. You Matter. – Message #1

To All Sharp HealthCare Team Members,

This week begins a series of communications – Facts Matter. You Matter. – to factually counter some of the many claims SEIU-UHW has been making about Sharp HealthCare in online advertising and social media. We firmly believe that the claims being made misrepresent the quality of patient care and the work environment at Sharp, both of which are founded on The Sharp Experience. Your hard work and compassion, in concert with the collaborative relationship we enjoy between staff and leadership, are what make Sharp the best place to work, practice medicine and receive care. That matters to all of us at Sharp, which is why it’s important to take the time to carefully review these communications when they are issued, ask questions of your leaders and to also ask questions of SEIU-UHW when it comes to the claims being made about Sharp and the promises they are making.

FICTION: An SEIU-UHW online advertisement states Sharp HealthCare collected $140 million in private donations over past two years but has not addressed the “severe short-staffing crisis” in its facilities.

FACT: The union is equating private donations as a funding source for adding staff, which simply is not feasible. Since our founding more than seven decades ago, Sharp has relied on the generosity of private community donations to help fund programs, services and construction of facilities, not as a way to pay for permanent staffing needs.

Despite the union’s claims that Sharp is not addressing staffing needs, and in light of the nation’s ongoing health care staffing shortage, our vacancy rate currently stands at an industry-impressive 6.7%*. That’s lower than the 8.2% national average, thanks to a variety of initiatives like the RN Transformation Project, as well as an active recruitment campaign that has long been in place to fill vacant positions across the system as needed. Further, Sharp’s employee retention rate of more than 90% is among the highest in the state for hospital systems, according to the California Hospital Association, which we largely attribute to The Sharp Experience and the positive work environment we collectively strive to create.

Finally, more employees are recognizing Sharp as a great place to work. Sharp was recently lauded as one of the highest-paying health systems for entry-level jobs and as one of the 68 greatest health systems for job starters, regarded as a leader “when it comes to attracting talent and launching careers.”

Facts matter. You matter.

Get all the facts about collective bargaining and unionization at sharpstayinformed.

*Source: RogueHire national benchmark study