Every day, Sharp nurses and health care professionals deliver life-saving care to San Diego families — in the ER, the ICU, the pharmacy, and while caring for mothers and newborns. Thirty percent of San Diego residents get their care from Sharp.

But Sharp’s nurses and health care professionals are paid below the market rate and struggle to support themselves and their families in one of the most expensive cities in the country. At the same time, Sharp management has proposed eliminating medical coverage for retirees, meaning a Sharp nurse or healthcare professional can retire after decades of grueling and physically punishing 12-hour shifts only to lose access to Sharp’s own health insurance. When nurses and health care professionals are overworked, unsupported, and underpaid, patients wait longer, care gets delayed and patients suffer.

Sharp HealthCare took in more than $5 billion in net revenue last year and has chosen to invest in expansion, while its nurses struggle with wages that don’t match the cost of living in San Diego or the critical nature of their work. Sharp risks driving even more registered nurses and health care professionals away to hospitals that pay them fairly, taking their years of expertise with them.

Sharp can afford to invest in the nurses and other health care professionals who protect patient safety.

San Diego families deserve a hospital system where caregivers have the time, support, and resources to deliver the excellent care they’re trained to provide.