Michigan union demands better conditions for workers at Detroit's Sinai-Grace Hospital

A growing dispute between healthcare workers and DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital is drawing the attention of Detroit leaders, with union members alleging ongoing safety and facility issues affecting employees and patients.

SEIU Healthcare Michigan held a press conference on Tuesday outside the hospital, claiming workers have reported problems ranging from a prolonged hot water outage and broken air conditioning to workplace assaults and sexual harassment incidents. The union also alleges hospital leadership has prevented it from accessing the facility to investigate those concerns.

Mark Simms, a patient care associate who has worked at Sinai-Grace for 19 years, alleged that conditions have steadily deteriorated.

"The heat was last week, air-conditioning wasn't on. We also had an issue June 30 where we didn't have hot water in this hospital for seven hours," Simms said. "That's inexcusable. Also, down in our ED, we have people being assaulted and sexually harassed."

The complaints were brought to SEIU Healthcare Michigan, which argues the hospital is violating its agreement with the union by denying representatives access to investigate working conditions.

"We have a right to go in and investigate working conditions," said Bob Gibson, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Michigan. "We need the hospital to immediately let us in so we can talk to our members and assess what's happening so we can deal with this."

The concerns have also caught the attention of Detroit City Council Member Angela Whitfield Calloway, whose district includes Sinai-Grace Hospital. Whitfield Calloway voted in favor of a $17 million tax abatement for the hospital, saying she believed it would help strengthen healthcare services in the neighborhood.

Now, she says the allegations warrant closer scrutiny.

"I'm going to ask our law department to take a look at maybe we need to claw back, maybe we need to take back some of that $17 million," Whitfield Calloway said. "If all that I'm hearing is true, there needs to be some changes at this hospital."

Following interviews with CBS News Detroit, Whitfield Calloway and Michigan state Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, visited the hospital to learn more about the reported conditions. Both said they were not allowed beyond the lobby.

"We want to make sure the patients are protected, that the workers' rights are protected, and that any real concerns are properly addressed and aren't just brushed under the rug," Weiss said. "Unfortunately, the tone we were met with was defensiveness and kind of like, 'What are you even doing here?' And again, we represent this hospital."

In response to the allegations, DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital provided the following statement to CBS News Detroit:

"DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital takes patient care, employee safety, and facility operations very seriously. SEIU Healthcare of Michigan has significantly mischaracterized events surrounding a temporary hot water outage that was promptly addressed. Patient care was not compromised and the hospital responded appropriately. The union's allegations regarding denied access are also false. We respect our obligations under our collective bargaining agreement and will continue to address union requests through the appropriate channels, not through public theatrics."

The union maintains it followed the proper process outlined in its agreement with the hospital and says it will continue pushing for access until the concerns raised by workers can be reviewed and addressed.