BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Healthcare workers at ECMC are calling on hospital leaders to increase security around the building after they say nearly a dozen cars were broken into overnight.

Hospital workers say that these car break-ins have been a common occurrence at ECMC.

Emilee Russell, a registered nurse at ECMC, said her car was broken into back in May. She says she does not keep anything valuable in her car, for this exact reason.

However, her passenger window was smashed and she had to pay out of pocket to have that fixed. ECMC officials say that on Sunday night a total of seven cars were broken into, and an eighth car was unlocked.

Members of the healthcare union say many of these cars, belong to hospital workers. Russell says she’s upset this keeps happening.

“This is a huge work place and patient safety issue, I can’t emphasize that enough,” Russell said. “It’s my job as a nurse to be a patient advocate and mainly I don’t know what it’s going to take for hospital administration to act on this problem that we’re having and I’d really hate to see it get to a point where someone gets seriously injured.”

An ECMC spokesperson said that hospital police and the Buffalo Police Department are investigating, reviewing ECMC and nearby City of Buffalo surveillance video.