Silicon Valley Democratic Club Board of Directors
Endorses SB 525 (Durazo) $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers

The Silicon Valley Democratic Club Board of Directors is pleased to support SB 525 (Durazo), the $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers, because we urgently need to address the healthcare staffing shortage in our community and our state.

Even before the pandemic, California faced a shortage of 500,000 healthcare workers needed to care for our aging population. After facing the trauma and dangerous working conditions of the pandemic and now struggling with low pay and poor working conditions while the cost of living skyrockets, healthcare workers are leaving the field and many others are thinking about it: 31% report that they are considering leaving the profession altogether.

Workers are reporting the hospitals they work in are understaffed and that it’s hurting patient care quality and resulting in longer wait times and delays in care. Patients in our community experience delays in receiving care. In short, California is facing a full-blown patient care crisis that we need to address immediately.

It’s time to invest in healthcare workers to improve staffing and patient care. Raising the minimum wage for all healthcare workers statewide will help our medical facilities retain staff who were considering leaving. Higher wages will also help attract more workers, bolstering efforts to fill our huge shortage of healthcare workers.

We ask you to join us to support SB 525 to support our state’s healthcare workers and to ensure that we have the staffing needed to care for all the residents of our great state.