What Happens
When Sharp
Healthcare
Puts Profits
Over Patients?
Short staffing becomes a crisis in San Diego.
Sign the PetitionSan Diego Patients Beware Sharp Healthcare executives are putting their profits before your care and it’s causing a short staffing crisis in our hospitals. Burnout, low pay, and potentially unsafe working conditions are causing frontline healthcare workers to leave Sharp and the patients they serve. Sharp executives’ greed is turning short-staffing into a crisis in our community.
The Sharp Healthcare Short Staffing Crisis
Frontline healthcare workers at Sharp are short-staffed and Sharp Healthcare patients are paying the price. In San Diego County, research shows that a family of four needs to earn over $50 an hour to make a living wage [1]. Sharp Healthcare pays workers as little as $23. Low pay means frontline workers can’t afford to work in our hospitals. When workers leave, our hospitals become short-staffed – and that’s dangerous for patients who require attention to get the lifesaving care they need.
San Diego’s Housing Crisis
It’s no secret that San Diego is home to one of the most expensive housing markets in the world, which is driving frontline healthcare workers out of the community. Some caregivers need to commute hundreds of miles every single day. It’s the only way to make the math work for their rent. Some healthcare workers give up and find other jobs, leaving our hospitals and making the Sharp Healthcare short-staffing crisis even worse. Sharp Healthcare executives need to pay workers enough to live in the communities they care for.
Executive Salaries Soar
As frontline workers struggle to afford their rent, healthcare executives at not-for-profit Sharp Healthcare are giving themselves a big payday. From 2020 to 2022, CEO Christopher Howard’s total compensation increased from under $1.7 million to over $2.4 million – and he’s not alone. Sharp executive Ricky Grossman’s compensation grew by over 200% in just two years, bringing him to over $1.2 million. In total, Sharp’s top executives received a combined $12 million in 2022.
Sharp Healthcare executives can solve this crisis In 2 years, Sharp executives have collected over $140 million in private donations to invest in care. In February, Sharp revealed that they’ve raked in more than $450 million since the start of the pandemic, bringing the not-for-profit corporation’s net worth up to $4.98 BILLION. They have the resources to solve short staffing and improve care for San Diego’s patients.
Make Your Voice Heard
Sign the petition and stand united with frontline healthcare workers at Sharp Healthcare.
Who We Are
The Elephant in the Waiting Room is proudly brought to you by the dedicated healthcare workers of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW). We are a union dedicated to ensuring our workers have everything they need to provide the high-quality care their patients need. That includes sounding the alarm on the understaffing crisis and its cause: underinvestment in healthcare.