Nearly 300 healthcare professionals at Sunrise Hospital voted to unionize on Friday, marking the biggest successful union election at a Nevada hospital in recent history.
A group of 275 speech therapists, pharmacists, occupational therapists, social workers and other healthcare professionals voted on Friday to join SEIU Local 1107.
About 78% of those voting said “yes” to joining the 4,700 other healthcare professionals across Southern Nevada who unionized last summer.
Sunrise’s employees believe this is the first step towards alleviating worker shortage and burnout in Las Vegas’ healthcare workforce.
Kalani Kauwe, who has worked as a physical therapist at Sunrise for a decade, said being part of a union would take some of the stress off of him and his colleagues, so they’re better able to serve their patients.
“But it is our job to advocate not just for our patients, but also for ourselves. And, in doing so, we can better advocate for our patients as we resolve some of those difficulties we are facing as the professionals here at Sunrise.”
Union leaders plan to reconvene over the coming weeks to negotiate a contract with Sunrise executives establishing wages and benefits.
