The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United today cited significant concerns over health risks associated with a major expansion at Huntington Memorial Hospital that nurses say are inadequately addressed in a draft environmental impact report prepared for the city of Pasadena.

 “This huge construction project must be conducted in a manner that ensures the safety of patients, hospital workers, and young students and families in the immediate area,” said CNA co-president Malinda Markowitz, RN.

“While CNA is not opposed to the expansion, Huntington executives should do much more to involve nurses, other workers, and community residents fully in the planning process to assure all health hazards are addressed,” Markowitz said.

CNA and Pasadena residents are especially concerned about the harmful risk of construction emissions, presence of hazardous substances on site during demolition, such as asbestos, lead paint, PCBs and soil contaminants, and air quality.

“Sadly,” Markowitz continued, “Huntington has a troubled recent history regarding prioritizing patient safety, with ongoing investigations by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as also evident in the investigation over a potential link to bacterial infections at the hospital and an endoscope linked to superbug infections.”

“That record is exactly why the expansion project should be carried out in a way to maximize health and safety, as a first priority, not an after thought,” Markowitz said.

The concerns were reflected in a letter sent late Friday to Pasadena’s Community Planning Division by attorney Gideon Kracov on behalf of CNA, UNITE HERE Local 11, and several Pasadena residents. 

The letter criticizes the environmental report for, among other factors:

“Failing to adequately analyze the impacts of 16+ years of continuous, heavy construction at the Hospital involving diesel exhaust on patients, workers (and) Sequoyah School.”

Insufficient requirement of mitigation of construction emissions and dust.

Failing to adequately assess and disclose the presence of hazardous substances onsite, such as asbestos, lead pain, PCBs and soil contamination” for which the document “must propose a feasible clean-up plan to safeguard public health and the environment.”

Underestimating the project’s air quality emissions.

Understating the adverse traffic impact.

Setting an “artificially high and improper” distance for measuring construction noise, which would result in inadequate abatement of construction noise that would affect patients, workers and the surrounding community.

“The City,” the letter concludes “has the duty to ensure that Huntington Memorial’s Project is best for Pasadena and its residents, or to disapprove (the) Project.”