A statewide union that represents thousands of healthcare workers accused a Riverside County hospital Tuesday of degraded sanitary conditions that led to maggots found in a patient’s mouth as well as in soup in the cafeteria.

A complaint filed to the California Department of Public Health by SEIU-UHW against Parkview Community Hospital alleges that earlier this year an employee reported finding more than 50 maggots in a patient’s nose and mouth. In April, a nurse reported maggots floating in the lentil soup being served in the hospital cafeteria.

Hospital officials denied the claims.

The complaint also alleges a failure to sanitize emergency department hallways where patients are treated because of overcrowding and using an uncertified vehicle to transport patients to an outside MRI facility.

“Management at Parkview Community Hospital is undermining the facility to the point where it’s a struggle to safely care for patients,” Willie Conley, a respiratory therapist at Parkview said in a statement provided by SEIU-UHW. “We have expressed a number of concerns and we believe the public should understand what’s going on behind the hospital’s doors so corrective action can quickly be taken.”

“SEIU-UHW, in a blatant and irresponsible attempt to gain leverage in a labor dispute, made allegations against our hospital that are categorically false,” Steve Popkin, Parkview CEO, said in a statement.

The union acknowledges it is in a labor dispute with Parkview Community Hospital, where they said more than 500 workers voted in March 2014 to join SEIU-UHW.

“However, management at the hospital has refused to recognize the union, and the union has filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against the hospital,” according to a statement from SEIU-UHW. “Workers would like to establish a labor-management committee, which would address workplace safety and patient care issues, but that is impossible until management recognizes the union.”

SEIU-UHW spokesman Sean Wherley said the hospital was informed about the insect larvae as was the Riverside County Department of Public Health.

In 2010, the hospital was fined $50,000 by the state Department of Public Health for removing the wrong kidney in a patient.