MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Dr. Sara Goodkind, sag51@pitt.edu, (412) 605-4811
WITH HOSPITAL WORKERS LEAVING JOBS IN RECORD NUMBERS, PITT RESEARCHERS LAUNCH HISTORIC SURVEY TO FIND OUT WHY
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The Mayor’s transition team believes addressing the healthcare staffing crisis is vital to the city’s health and economy and requested the survey to better understand and address the challenges hospital workers face.=
Pittsburgh, PA -- At a virtual press conference on Thursday, February 24 at 10:30 AM, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work will announce the launch of the largest survey of Pittsburgh hospital workers ever conducted. Researchers believe the survey will help provide the Mayor and the public with a better understanding of the myriad challenges driving workers away from city hospitals.
The research team conducting the survey has been investigating the working conditions and economic status of hospital workers for several years through the Pittsburgh Wage Study.
“Hospital workers supported our city when we needed them most. Now, Mayor Gainey wants to know what the city can do to support our healthcare workforce,” said Angel Gober, Co-Chair of Mayor Gainey’s Transition Team. “Hospital workers have never been more important and yet they’re leaving their jobs in droves. We hope this survey will give workers the chance to tell the Mayor and the public what it will take to turn things around.”
Said Dr. Jeffrey Shook, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, “The hospital staffing crisis is not new, but two years into this pandemic, the exodus of Pittsburgh hospital workers has drastically accelerated. Hospital workers are burned out, forced to care for increasingly sick patients with less support and fewer staff, while managing crisis after crisis. The survey will investigate the working conditions in Pittsburgh hospitals and, we hope, provide the Mayor, city leadership, and the public with an understanding of what Pittsburgh’s hospital workers face and what can be done about it.”
WHAT: Press Conference to Announce Pittsburgh Hospital Workers Survey Launch
WHEN: Thursday, February 24, 10:30 AM
WHO: University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work researchers Jeffrey Shook, PhD and Sara Goodkind, PhD; local hospital workers, nurses
WHERE: RSVP