
Innamorato’s Campaign Will Elevate the Voices Of Working Families in Western PA and Focus Attention On the #UnionsForAll Movement to Hold UPMC Accountable
For Immediate Release: December 15, 2022
Contact: scott.vogel@seiuhcpa.org
(Pittsburgh, PA) – Standing alongside nurses, essential healthcare workers, community leaders and advocates of all stripes State Representative Sara Innamorato announced her candidacy for Allegheny County Executive.
SEIU Healthcare PA’s workers enthusiastically pledged their support and endorsed Innamorato’s campaign.
Silas Russell, the Executive Vice President and Political Director of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania stated: “Sara Innamorato is one of the most fearless advocates for healthcare workers in our state. She marched with workers and patients into UPMC’s board meeting in 2019 to protect consumers from losing access to their doctors and hospitals. Sara stood with West Penn nurses at every turn from organizing and building the union to winning an historic first contract that invests in putting more nurses at the bedside.
“Sara has been a driving force for health system accountability in Harrisburg, pushing for healthcare antitrust legislation to protect workers and consumers from powerful healthcare monopolies. Simply put, Sara is the kind of ally and champion healthcare workers need leading Allegheny County,” said Russell.
“There is huge excitement among nurses throughout Pittsburgh to elect Rep. Sara Innamorato as the next Executive of Allegheny County,” said Kari Xander, an RN in the NICU at West Penn at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) since 2006. “Having a true #UnionsForAll champion as the head of our County government would be a dream come true for the families, patients and communities that we faithfully serve. Especially on the heels of electing healthcare champions such as Josh Shapiro for Governor and Summer Lee to Congress (12th District) to represent Pittsburgh, both of whom have forcefully and repeatedly stood up to UPMC’s anti-worker agenda.”

Jodi Faltin, an RN in the Neuro ICU Department at UPMC Shadyside, spoke at the campaign launch stating that UPMC’s essential healthcare workers know that Sara has their back and will stand up to UPMC’s money, power, and clout throughout the state. “We need leaders that will demand more from UPMC, and that’s why we need Sara Innamorato as our next County Executive. When UPMC nurses and hospital workers have bravely stood up for better staffing and better care for our patients, Sara has been there beside us. She will make sure UPMC lives up to its responsibilities as a non-profit charity and our region’s largest employer.”
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SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state’s largest and fastest-growing union of nurses and healthcare workers, uniting tens of thousands of professional and technical employees, direct care workers, and service employees in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home- and community-based services, and state facilities across the Commonwealth. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members are committed to improving the lives of health care workers and ensuring quality care and healthy communities for all Pennsylvanians.
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