Registered nurses are on strike today at eight hospitals that are part of the wealthy Sutter corporate chain to protest Wall Street-type demands for more than 100 sweeping reductions in patient care and nurses’ standards and workplace conditions.

The nurses, members of the California Nurses Association, National Nurses United, offered to call off the strike if Sutter agreed to withdraw the concession demands.

Some 4,500 RNs, as well as respiratory and radiology techs, are affected by the walkout at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Berkeley and Oakland, Mills-Peninsula Health Services hospitals in Burlingame and San Mateo, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, San Leandro Hospital, Sutter Delta in Antioch, Sutter Solano in Vallejo, Novato Community Hospital, and Sutter Lakeside.

Despite making over $4 billion in profits since 2007, and paying its chief executive Pat Fry $4.7 million a year (or $2,260 per hour), Sutter is demanding big cuts for its RNs, many of which would pose risks to patient safety. Among Sutter’s demands are proposals that would effectively force nurses to work when sick, dangerously exposing already fragile patients to infection and further complications; thousands of dollars in increased costs to nurses for health coverage for themselves and their families; forcing many nurses to work in hospital units for which they do not have clinical expertise, posing a risk to patients, and huge cuts for nurses who work part time schedules.

Among Sutter’s demands are proposals that would effectively force nurses to work when sick, dangerously exposing already fragile patients to infection and further complications; thousands of dollars in increased costs to nurses for health coverage for themselves and their families; forcing many nurses to work in hospital units for which they do not have clinical expertise, posing a risk to patients, and huge cuts for nurses who work part time schedules.

Some 4,500 RNs are affected by the planned walkout which scheduled for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Berkeley and Oakland, Mills-Peninsula Health Services hospitals in Burlingame and San Mateo, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, San Leandro Hospital, Sutter Delta in Antioch, Sutter Solano in Vallejo, Novato Community Hospital, and Sutter Lakeside.

Radiology and respiratory technicians will also be on strike Tuesday.

In addition to the concession demands, the strikers will protest Sutter’s reductions in patient care services throughout the region, including moves to:

· Close San Leandro hospital, abandoning tens of thousands of patients who depend on the hospital for emergency and in-patient care. The closure announcement is expected May 1.

· End breast cancer screening for women with disabilities and most bone marrow transplant services for cancer patients at Alta Bates Summit in Oakland and Berkeley.

· Close a pulmonary sub-acute unit at Herrick Hospital in Berkeley which serves patients with long term, severe incapacities, some of whom have been there for years.
· Stop providing psychiatric services under contract with Sacramento County for more than 225 Sacramento children.

· Close specialized pediatric care, acute rehabilitation, dialysis, and skilled nursing care services at Mills and Peninsula hospitals in Burlingame and San Mateo.

· Close home health services and limit acute-care hospital stays in Lakeport.

· Close acute rehabilitation services, skilled nursing care, and psychiatric services, and substantially downgrade nursery care for sick children at Eden Hospital in Castro Valley.

· Sharply cut psychiatric care at Herrick Hospital in Berkeley.

· Close a birthing center at Sutter Auburn Faith, forcing new mothers and families to travel up to 100 miles for obstetrics care, while giving a $1 million gift to the Sacramento Kings.

· Close pediatric, psychiatric, lactation, and transitional care services in Santa Rosa.

Kaiser Nurses Show Support of Striking Co-workers, Patients and the Community

OAKLAND—Registered nurses and nurse practitioners at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics across Northern and Central California will honor the picket lines Tuesday in sympathy and solidarity with other frontline Kaiser staff who will hold a one-day strike Tuesday to protest Kaiser demands for substantial cuts in healthcare coverage, retirement benefits and inadequate staffing for mental health services.

RNs will complete final sympathy strike preparations Monday 3:30 p.m. at the Oakland headquarters of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which represents 17,000 Kaiser RNs.

Media Availability Today:
California Nurses Association, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday Schedule:
Picketing Begins: Tuesday, January 31, 7 a.m., Kaiser Permanente Facilities
Rallies: Tuesday, January 31, 12 Noon
Kaiser Oakland: 3801 Howe St., Oakland
Kaiser South Sacramento: 6500 Bruceville Rd., Sacramento

RNs will be supporting mental health clinicians, clinical psychologists, licensed social workers and opticians.

The nurses say they understand the concerns of their co-workers about the erosion of services that affect the quality of patient care, especially in mental health, as described in the report Care Delayed, Care Denied. It asserts that Kaiser has frequently failed to comply with California laws aimed at protecting patients’ timely access to appropriate services despite receiving more than $10 billion annually from Medicare to provide a full range of services, including mental healthcare.

“It is disappointing that Kaiser is refusing to bargain for sufficient staffing for mental health services, and a secure retirement and accessible health coverage for its frontline caregivers despite its record profits,” said Zenei Cortez, RN, CNA Co-President, who works at Kaiser South San Francisco. “We will continue to honor the basic tenets of nursing and stand in support of our colleagues, our patients, and communities.”

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Video of Timm Sinclair, the son of a Kaiser mental health patient.

Kaiser nurses will be holding the sympathy strike on Jan. 31 to support their co-workers who are members of National Union of Healthcare Workers who charge that Kaiser Permanente, California’s largest HMO, systematically understaffs its mental health services in violation of California state law, leaving some patients to suffer delays in receiving treatment they have already paid for and urgently need.

The subject of  articles in USA Today and the Huffington Post,  A report by the NUHW “Care Delayed, Care Denied” documents the problem in detail.  To learn more and see the report visit: http://www.nuhw.org/caredenied.

From the Executive Summary:

“With more than 6.6 million members, Kaiser Permanente is California’s largest HMO and plays a massive role in the state’s healthcare delivery system by operating more than 35 hospitals and several hundred clinics across the state. Less well known, however, is Kaiser’s role in providing mental health services to Californians. Ranking perhaps second only to the State of California, Kaiser is one of the state’s largest providers of mental health services. The Oakland-based company guarantees its members a full array of inpatient, outpatient and emergency mental health services provided by several thousand mental health professionals. Each year, thousands of Kaiser’s members seek treatment for conditions ranging from autism, anxiety and bi-polar disorder to depression, schizophrenia and suicidal ideation.

Despite Kaiser’s pledge to provide comprehensive mental health services to its members, an in-depth analysis suggests that the HMO’s mental health services are sorely understaffed and frequently fail to provide timely and appropriate care. Patients often experience lengthy delays in obtaining services, an overreliance on “group therapies,” and frustrating obstacles that push many patients to forgo care or seek treatment elsewhere at their own cost…

Kaiser’s substandard care also comes at the same time that the HMO is reporting record profits of $5.7 billion [emphasis ours] since 2009.”

View Statements of Concern by the National Association of Social Workers – California Chapter, California Psychological Association and CAMFT.

Kaiser clinicians, patients and families can submit their stories too.

AND we have powerhouse medical paralegal and co-author Corine Mogenis with us to talk about a new book she and partner RN, MBA Patricia Raya have written called Medical Tips from the Inside: Things You Need to Know.

Nurses are poised to hold a one-day strike at California’s second largest private hospital, and one of its most profitable corporate hospital chain December 22.

The strike will affect 2,000 RNs at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach, and 4,000 RNs who work at eight Bay Area hospitals that are part of the Sutter corporation.

Long Beach RNs have been at odds with hospital management for months over assuring there is safe RN-to-patient staffing at all times. The nurses will also protest hospital demands for sweeping increases in healthcare premiums for nurses. The health care takeaway the hospital is pushing would cost RNs nearly $3,000 more out of pocket in premium costs.

“Nurses are tired of having to fight everyday to protect their patients because of speed up and cost cutting measures,” said Long Beach RN Margie Keenan.

“We are finding it harder to give the quality care we want to give when our employer, like insurance companies, is only focused on the bottom line,” said Keenan.  “This undermines our ability to deliver safe patient care.   Our serious safety concerns have not been answered at the bargaining table and we will not be able to reach an agreement until they are addressed.  Patients are more important than the bottom line.”

For the Sutter hospitals, this will be the second work stoppage following a one-day strike in September that was prompted by nearly 200 demands for major contract concessions made by the hospital giant despite amassing over $3.7 billion in profits since 2005.

Since the walkout, nurses have met with management officials repeatedly, ten negotiations just at Alta Bates Summit, but there has been little progress with Sutter continuing to press a hard line for cuts that would erode safety standards and further engorge company profits with little benefit for patients, RNs say. System wide, more than 150 takeaway demands remain on the table, nearly 100 at Alta Bates Summit alone.

Sutter continues to push changes that would RNs’ their ability to effectively advocate for patients against the budget-focused priorities of Sutter managers and effectively force nurses to work when sick, dangerously exposing extremely ill patients to infection.

The one-day Bay Area walkout will affect Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Berkeley and Oakland, Mills-Peninsula Health Services hospitals in Burlingame and San Mateo, Eden Medical Center hospitals in Castro Valley and San Leandro, Sutter Delta in Antioch, and Sutter Solano in Vallejo.

Sutter’s proposal to eliminate sick leave will force nurses to come to work sick which will further jeopardize our fragile patients, “ said Hebron Viray, oncology RN at Alta Bates’ Berkeley campus.

At Alta Bates Summit, Sutter has added a new concession demand, to end any collective voice for charges who make clinical assignments of a collective voice, eliminating their ability to speak out on staffing problems without fear of retaliation, as well as  requiring them to take on additional patient assignments, further eroding already under staffed units for patients.

“Sutter’s proposal to eliminate charge nurses threatens high-quality patient care and our ability to maintain patient safety and patient advocacy,” said Teresa Mullen, a charge nurse at the Oakland campus of Alta Bates Summit.

Additionally, Sutter RNs oppose management’s bid to reduce nurses’ healthcare coverage, with huge increases in nurses’ out-of-pocket costs for health coverage, elimination of health benefits for part-time RNs, and other cuts that would result in thousands of dollars in economic loss for RNs. All at a time when Sutter is sitting on $11.6 billion in assets and paying salaries of over $1 million a year to 20 top executives none of whom provide bedside care.

“We told our management that we would pledge not to strike if they pledged to not put takeaways on the table.  They would not make that commitment.  They are the ones who are forcing us into this situation.  We must stick together to fight on behalf of our standards and our patients,” said Sutter Solano (Vallejo) RN Rowena Modesto.

Long Beach RNs have been working without a contract since September 30 and held a candlelight vigil attended by more than 400 RNs last month to emphasize their concerns.

Nurses are particularly alarmed about their ability to take meal and rest breaks during which the hospital frequently does not have sufficient staff to meet minimum safety standards required by California law.

The nurses want the hospital to provide additional resource RNs to guarantee nurses can safely take their breaks without worrying about their patients safety, or having to continue working without breaks while fatigued and more prone to making mistakes.

“When the hospital does not staff to provide meals and breaks for nurses, it is detrimental to patient care.  Our patients require and deserve to have the continued care they expect from our hospital,” said Long Beach RN. Allison Miller.

Another contentious issue is lift practices. The RNs want the hospital to assure a safe patient lift policy to reduce the large numbers of musculoskeletal injuries among nurses and other staff, and to limit patient falls, accidents and pressure ulcers.

Despite the enactment of a state law signed by Gov. Brown in October requiring all California hospitals to have a safe patient handling policy, including lift teams trained to lift patients using proper equipment, Long Beach has continued to stall, putting nurses and patients at risk, say the RNs.

“We need to make improvements at LBMMC/MCH and it has been difficult to make corrections of practices that have been ingrained for years,” said Long Beach RN Mary Bailey.

See the original media advisory on NationalNursesUnited.org.

There was big news last week with the nurses strike in Northern California. Over 23,000 nurses took part in the one day strike against Sutter and Kaiser hospitals. Tragically as we spoke with RN and co-president of National Nurses United Deborah Burger, a patient at Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center died due to a medical error while under the care of a replacement nurse. Though this was a one-day strike, Sutter refused to let the nurses come back to work for another four days, putting patients in further jeopardy.

• Cardiothoracic stepdown unit (heart patients). Delays in care for patients on ventilators that led to respiratory distress and other incidents. Late medications and assessments. A patient deteriorating because nurses were unable to monitor as needed. Nurses unable to walk patients, provide wound care, or give adequate discharge instruction.
• Burn unit. New burn patients admitted without adequate staff; extremely anxious new burn patients not adequately cared for.
• Orthopedic trauma unit. IVs left beeping, numerous delays in pain pills and other medications.
• Pediatrics. Frequent delays in needed lab and other tests, long waits for medical transports; in one case delayed transport situation a developmentally delayed 5-year old bit and hit herself and others.
• Neurosurgical intensive care. A 20-week pregnant patient went for three days without being fed even though nutritional issues were paramount for the baby.
• Newborn intensive care: A premature baby was accidentally fed twice, with formula having to be suctioned out of the baby’s stomach before serious complications could occur. Numerous late feedings, late assessments, medication errors, and other short staffing issues.