Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is right to challenge UPMC’s status as a purely public charity (“Gainey to challenge tax-exempt status of UPMC properties, other nonprofits,” March 28, TribLIVE). It doesn’t matter how much money UPMC “donates to the community” when they’re creating conditions that leave employees like myself struggling to survive.
I’m a single mom, and I often have to put in overtime just to make ends meet. I worked through the pandemic but last year I got in a car accident and couldn’t work. On disability, I was making less than $1,000 a month. I was going to the food bank. I got a notice my utilities were going to be shut off.
So I turned to my employer for support. But UPMC dragged their feet and refused to even sign the paperwork I needed to get assistance.
Through all of this I remember thinking, UPMC is making billions, but I can’t afford to keep my electricity on while I’m recovering from an injury myself?
UPMC doing more for our community means doing more to support its workforce.
Tinisha Brockman
Beltzhoover
The writer is a patient care technician at UPMC Magee-Womens hospital