See pictures of the action here!

Registered nurses at Brotman Medical Center will hold a picket Tuesday morning to call on the private equity firm that operates the Culver City hospital to forego its proposals that would undercut patient care standards and make a commitment not to erode patient care.

       When:   Tuesday, October 23
         Time:   7:30am to 10:30am
      Where:   Brotman Medical Center
                      3828 Delmas Terrace, Culver City

Brotman Hospital was purchased in 2009 by Prospect Medical Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leonard Green and Partners, a Private Equity group that lists luxury brands such as Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods among its portfolio of investments.

Despite consistent profitability, hospital management is demanding substantial cuts in nurses’ economic standards and proposals that would put patients at risk, nurses say, a pattern that the RNs say is consistent with the practice of private equity firms that are far more interested in squeezing profits out of a facility than in supporting community-based care.

“We have seen this over and over” said Brotman RN Valerie Selden.  “Management makes demands that will undercut patient care standards and created a huge turnover of new employees as well as drive away experienced RNs.

“Nurses have no choice but to stand up and demand that Prospect Medical Holdings make a commitment not to erode patient care in Culver City.   We cannot work the bedside, provide the care that is our calling -- for which we are professionally trained -- and give the ground management demands,” Selden said.

Prospect management wants to impose rules that allow Brotman to assign RNs to work in hospital units for which they do not have clinical expertise, and has rejected RN proposals to reduce workplace violence, needle stick injuries, and safe lift practices to stop patient falls and accidents and workplace injuries for RNs.

The hospital also is seeking to cut nurses pay, and impose punitive measures intended to substantially erode protections for the RNs when and if the hospital is sold again.

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