UC Irvine Medical Center has been ranked as one of the nation's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for the last eight consecutive years. However, the service workers who clean and disinfect the hospitals' patient rooms and ORs; serve food to patients' families in the hospital cafeteria; and dispose of medical waste are struggling to support their families.
"My dad is blind and my mom is sick. They are going through hard times ... I’m the one who helps them, but right now I can’t really help them."
That is what Albert Rios, a UCI Medical Center custodian told Facing Poverty at UC. You can watch Albert describe his stuggle to support his parents and young child here.
When Facing Poverty at UC visited with Albert in his small one-bedroom apartment, which he shares with his parents and his daughter, he told us that his parents are forced to ask family and friends to loan them money just to make ends meet. Albert wants to be able to support his family, but on his low wages, he isn't always able to.
In the Facing Poverty at UC Irvine video, you will see that Albert and his co-workers at UC Irvine Medical Center decided to take their personal struggles with poverty in their homes to the home of their boss, CEO Maureen Zehntner.
UC Irvine Medical Center CEO Maureen Zehntner makes $592,000 per year in total compensation, plus she has the opportunity to receive a $111,000 incentive bonus when the Medical Center performs well. At the same time, Albert and his co-workers struggle just to put food on their tables and buy the medicine that they, and their families, need to stay healthy.
Watch Albert’s video and read the stories of other UC Irvine workers, and then tell Medical Center CEO Maureen Zehntner to end poverty at UC for workers like Albert Rios.