Sharp HealthCare nurses filed a quality-of-care complaint with the California Department of Health Services detailing hundreds of alleged regulations violations at Sharp's seven hospitals.
The 140-page complaint includes 900 accounts of alleged shortcomings that are "seriously compromising" patient care, according to a statement from the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, which filed the complaint Friday.
The complaint comes amid a heated labor contract dispute. The not-for-profit hospital chain's contract with 3,300 nurses represented by the union expires June 30.
"Quality patient care is getting harder and harder for us to provide," Corinne Hollings, president of the nurses' union at Sharp, said in a statement Monday. The complaint accuses Sharp of short staffing, lack of training, faulty equipment and unsanitary conditions.
Sharp spokesman John Cihomsky said the timing of the complaint was "suspicious" given the contract negotiations.
He said the company has a system in place for patients and staff to make complaints and it was the hospital's mission "to follow up and improve" any areas of concern.
