PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The healthcare workers' union District1199SEIU, NEHCEU on Thursday endorsed state Rep. David Segal in his congressional campaign in Rhode Island's First District.

District 1199 represents 4,000 health care workers in Rhode Island at hospitals, nursing homes, community health centers and developmentally disabled facilities.

"I am proud to stand with David Segal, because he is a rare example of someone in politics who cares and organizes for working people," Sukie Ream, a labor and delivery nurse at Women and Infants hospital, said in a news release. "I know as a congressman he will fight for the dignity and rights of health care workers and patients in Washington."

Segal, in a statement accepting the endorsement, said there were ties between the health care delivery system and economic recovery in Rhode Island. He also said he was committed to protecting workers' rights, expanding health care access in Rhode Island and supporting workforce training programs that can help Rhode Island recruit and retain nurses and health care workers in the face of the state's nursing shortage.