Denver Health Employees Go To City Council With Concerns

DENVER (CBS4) - Employees at Denver Health are taking a number of concerns they have to the Denver City Council. At Monday's council meeting, Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca read a letter she says was from nurses and other employees on the front lines in the fight against coronavirus.

The letter comes following a CBS4 investigation into the hospital. It found top executives at Denver Health Medical Center received significant bonuses this month for their performance in 2019, ranging from $50,000 up to $230,000.

The announcement of the bonuses came one week after frontline hospital workers were asked to voluntarily take leave without pay or reduce their hours as the hospital dealt with the financial downturn resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

RELATED: Denver Health Nurse To CEO: 'Don't Have Trust Or Faith' In Execs Over Bonus Issue

"When the same hospital executives who asked us to sacrifice took over a million dollars in bonuses we felt betrayed and demoralized by our leadership," CdeBaca read from the letter.

One claim the employees made was the lack of personal protective equipment. They say they're having to reuse N95 masks and don't have access to full body suits.

"We are providing our own safety glasses because shields used to protect our entire faces are often hard to come by and are in questionable condition, being used between multiple staff and even patients," the letter read.

Hospital staff also says cleaning wipes and disinfectant ate hard to come by and they worry it's affecting more than just them.

"We know firsthand how the quality of patient care has been reduced in efforts to preserve PPE and cleaning supplies."

CBS4 reached out to Denver Health for comment but has not yet heard back.