Behind Bayview: The Workers who Keep Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Running

The service and patient care workers at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, who are the unseen backbone of the hospital, are fighting for a fair contract. Members of AFSCME Local 3374 in Baltimore are calling on Bayview leadership to recognize how essential their employees are to the success of the hospital and pay them a livable wage. 

Local 3374 members sterilize operating rooms for life saving surgeries, transport patients throughout the hospital, prepare meals for patients with dietary restrictions, and provide countless other vital services that allow Bayview and Johns Hopkins to be considered one of the world’s leading academic medical centers and hospitals. Yet many of them can’t afford housing or health care.

“I have diabetes and there was a time that I couldn’t even get my finger sticked. I told my doctor, ‘$85, I can’t pay for that.’ And for maybe 3 or 4 years, I didn’t do it because I couldn’t pay for it,” shared Bayview cook and Local 3374 member Keyuanna Holmes. “I have kids. I didn’t put my kids on my insurance ‘cause again, I couldn’t pay for it.” 

The cost of living continues to skyrocket across the country, yet over half of the almost 600 Bayview workers that Local 3374 represents make under $20 an hour. That number includes every single patient escort and food service worker and almost every single environmental services worker (EVS). Severalmembers that have worked at Bayview for over 20 years still make under $21, the amount determined by MIT that a single person with no children would need to make to afford to live in Baltimore.

Without a living wage, Bayview workers are working multiple jobs, working 16-hour shifts, missing quality time with their families, delaying retirement, and foregoing vital medical care to ensure they’re able to pay their bills at the end of the month.

“Sometimes I work at Amazon from 4 o’clock in the morning to 1 PM. After that I come here from 2 PM to 11 PM,” said Maria Palaguachi, an EVS Area Cleaner. 

Dana Richardson, a building and groundskeeper shares a similar struggle. “I have to work doing Lyft, Uber, and then I come to work,” said Richardson. “This job does not pay enough to make sure I’m able to take care of my home. I have two daughters that go to college, so I’m scraping up money here and there to help them with school. I have to work more hours after leaving an 8-hour shift just to send a little bit of money to them.”

The harsh reality of the low wages at Bayview is that even when members need to work overtime to make ends meet, shifts may not be available because of the high demand to pick up extra hours. 

Instead of investing in the wellbeing of the employees that make their hospital run, Bayview leadership is also attempting to increase the health insurance costs for members who are already struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Lesley Ragland, an EVS Area Cleaner. “We’re already not getting paid enough and then when they’re pulling a chunk out of my check for health insurance that I could’ve used to pay a bill. Or they take a chunk out of my check I could’ve took to the market. Or they take a chunk out of my check I could’ve used to pay rent, and I don’t have all my money, so now I have to go to these people and tell them I’m short—it’s a lot.”

Local 3374 members are fundamental to the continued success of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. It’s time for Bayview leadership to pay their employees a livable wage, lower health insurance costs, and respect the workers that make Bayview happen.

Keyuanna has a message for Bayview leadership, “Bayview and Johns Hopkins as a whole really need to take care of their employees. The same way that we respect our leadership, our management, our CEO, they need to come down and respect us in the same light."

To show your support for the members of AFSCME Local 3374, sign the Community Support Letter here.