Keeping Workers Safe and Improving Healthcare: Why Carecubes is Different

I’ve spent my life on the frontlines of the labor movement. Thirty-eight years, to be exact. I started as a social service worker, knew nothing about unions, and then found myself rising through the ranks of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to become its international president. Along the way, I represented millions of working people, especially in healthcare: doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, home health aides, and hospital and nursing home staff who show up every day to protect and heal others, often at great risk to themselves. SEIU is the largest union of healthcare workers in the country, and I carry that perspective with me in everything I do.

It was during my post-SEIU chapter that I first connected with Alex Laskey. Back then, he was exploring new paths after building a successful company in the energy space. We struck up a conversation that continued over time, covering climate, labor, technology, and the public good. When he began working on Carecubes, he reached out to get my take—not just as someone who knows unions, but as someone who’s spent decades thinking about what healthcare workers need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

A Problem I Know Too Well

Healthcare workers face danger every day, not just from burnout or staff shortages, but from real, physical threats like infectious diseases. During crises like COVID-19 or Ebola, those dangers multiply exponentially. You’re treating patients without knowing their diagnosis, sometimes without enough PPE, all while trying to protect yourself, your colleagues, and your own family. It’s not just about your own, your family’s, and your co-workers’ survival. It’s about the survival and dignity of your patients. I watched countless workers carry the trauma of seeing patients die alone. I saw the psychological toll of not being able to let families be present during treatment.

That’s why Carecubes spoke to me.

What Carecubes Solves

Carecubes provides a fast, flexible, and cost-effective way to create safe spaces for treatment and connection. It solves multiple problems at once:

• Keeps healthcare workers safe from unknown exposure
• Allows patients to receive care in an isolated, controlled environment
• Gives family members the ability to be present safely during moments of crisis

Whether it’s a rural clinic dealing with a suspected case of something serious or a major urban hospital overwhelmed during an outbreak, Carecubes brings calm to chaos. It’s a modern solution to a timeless problem, one we’ve seen far too often.

A Hopeful Future, If We Choose It

I’ve seen the power of unions to drive innovation and protect workers. Years ago, SEIU pushed for legislation and workplace changes to reduce needle sticks, which at the time were a major vector for HIV and other diseases. We advocated for retractable needles and safety protocols, and we made a difference.

Carecubes feels like that kind of breakthrough. A practical innovation that unions, hospital systems, and governments can and should rally around. Not just to react to crises, but to prepare for the next one. Because there will be a next one.

What worries me today is that too many people are delaying treatment or don’t get it when they need it. By the time they arrive in the hospital, they tend to be sicker, more contagious, and harder to treat. That puts healthcare workers, other patients, and entire communities at greater risk.

But what gives me hope is the wave of innovation we’re seeing. AI, personalized medicine, and technologies like Carecubes are bridging the gap between patient care, worker safety, and public health preparedness.

If we had Carecubes during the height of COVID, we would have saved thousands of SEIU members from trauma, injury, and anxiety, and saved many healthcare workers’ lives. We would have let more families say goodbye, and patients be comforted at the end of life.

So I’m proud to back this team. I believe in the mission. And I believe that Carecubes is part of the future we need if we have the courage and foresight to invest in it.