“Man vs Street” host and probably future award-winning journalist Malik Lahrim attended a Kaiser Permanente strike in October, sharing footage Friday that will make you want to deep-dive into the world of holistic medicine.
The inside scoop is that “health workers are fed up with being understaffed” and underpaid for probably the most important job in the world: keeping y’all alive. The insights shared with Lahrim were enough for me to start planting my herb garden, because I can’t see how we can keep healthcare in this country if things keep going this bad.
“The worst part is short-staffing. It’s simply unsafe,” one striking pharmacist told Lahrim. She said she has to fill hundreds of prescriptions an hour on her own, and her employers have put “speed” as a condition of her employment.
These people who chose to dedicate their lives to helping others are being forced to live on minimum wage, which does not come close to covering an average cost of living, let alone the increases from inflation. “There’ve been so many shifts where I’ve worked by myself for eight hours, and I had zero help,” another worker said. (RELATED: Most Of ‘Nonpartisan’ Kaiser Foundation’s Board Donates To Democrats Exclusively)
One woman said her colleagues are living in their cars because they can’t afford housing on Kaiser Permanente’s wages, while those who run these companies and hospitals make millions, maybe even billions, of dollars.
You might think I’m crazy, but it’s almost like a for-profit healthcare industry doesn’t work long-term and is easily corrupted by bad people. What do you think?