Visiting Nurse Association of Santa Cruz

Mental Health Strike at Kaiser Oakland - 01/01/2024 at 7pm - Learn More >>

Visiting Nurse Association of Santa Cruz

Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice of Santa Cruz, a Sutter Health affiliate, provides homecare to patients throughout Santa Cruz County, California. VNA Santa Cruz’s physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and medical social workers voted to join NUHW in 2013.

880 Soquel Avenue, Suite 10
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Organizer

Ellen Kress

669-242-9237 | ekress@nuhw.org

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Reflecting on the longest ever mental health strike

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NUHW hosts Katie Porter rally

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NUHW sponsors new mental health parity bills

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NUHW expands presence at Providence San Pedro

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Dominican Hospital workers unit to win strong contract

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NUHW joins fight against anti-LGBTQ+ extremists in Glendale

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California Assembly passes NUHW-backed “Ghost Network” bill

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NUHW members at Providence hospital get abusive managers terminated

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Workers at Aspen nursing homes fight hard for new contracts

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Seton workers picket over cuts to services and health benefits

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NUHW nurses save the day at fundraiser

NUHW nurses save the day at fundraiser.

Sutter workers hold first ever strike

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Orange County Supervisors call on Kaiser to reverse cuts

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NUHW membership at USC tops 2,000 with organizing victories at Verdugo Hills Hospital

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Workers to picket Seton Medical Center

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Humberto Retana is a marriage and family therapist who got involved with his union to support his coworkers and "stay close to the action."

Sutter workers picket psych hospital, authorize strike

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After winning contract, NUHW members take concerns to county sheriff

After winning contract, NUHW members take concerns to county sheriff.

NUHW continues growth at Keck-USC Health System

Workers at the USC Spine Center are the latest USC employees to join NUHW with more union elections scheduled for December.

More hospice workers vote to join NUHW

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NUHW endorses Katie Porter for U.S. Senate

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Kindred San Diego workers strike for fair pay

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Newsom signs NUHW-backed universal healthcare bill

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Kindred Bay Area workers win better salaries and benefits

Kindred Bay Area workers win better salaries and benefits.

Historic settlement: Kaiser agrees to pay record fine, spend $150 million to improve mental health services

In a major victory for Kaiser therapists and patients, Kaiser acknowledged systemic failures in its mental healthcare system and committed to addressing them. The agreement settled two state investigations, one of which found that Kaiser had canceled over 111,000 therapy appointments during last year’s 10-week strike.

Nearly 500 workers join NUHW in October

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Kaiser homecare workers fight back to preserve quality care

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Victory for Medical Social Workers at Kaiser

Medical Social Workers in Kern County recently won open schedules and ended the practice of booked appointments in their department. The old booking practice had interfered with their autonomy and opened the door for micromanagement.

NUHW-backed universal healthcare bill heads to governor’s desk

SB 770, which passed the Assembly in September, would pave the way to guaranteeing healthcare for all Californians.

Member Profile: Billie Jean Barton

As NUHW members at Providence hospitals in Northern California prepare to bargain their next contract, union steward Billie Jean Barton is encouraging her coworkers — including her own son — to get involved in the negotiations.

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Member Profile: Thomas Christian

Following his father’s example, Thomas Christian is outspoken in his advocacy for his co-workers.

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NUHW further expands presence at Keck-USC healthcare system

Seeking the same job security and benefits as their NUHW colleagues, Pasadena Lab workers voted unanimously to unionize.

Workers get Penalty Pay extended at a major Providence hospital

After a year of paycheck errors that triggered a fierce response from stewards, NUHW members at Queen of the Valley Medical Center secured $250 in penalty pay for any future errors.

Complaint seeks to downgrade Kaiser’s accreditation status in Hawai’i

In filing complaint with Kaiser’s accreditation agency, NUHW cites HMO’s failure to meet the mental health staffing levels it had agreed to in its Corrective Action Plan.

Kaiser Model of Care Committees off to good start

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Poised to strike, workers win big raises at Anaheim hospital

NUHW’s newest members at West Anaheim Medical Center will receive average wage increases of 26 percent with some workers securing 61 percent raises over the next three years.

Member Profile: Michael Camarena

Michael Camarena, a pharmacy tech at West Anaheim Medical Center, is helping lead coworkers in their fight for safe staffing and better pay.

A small contract provision makes a big difference for patients

NUHW contract at San Francisco nonprofit includes language helping therapists with immigration paperwork so patients get culturally competent care.

New NUHW members picket West Anaheim Medical Center over short staffing, poverty wages

Seven months after voting to join their colleagues as members of NUHW, workers formed picket lines to demand fair treatment and better wages.

Opposition growing to Kaiser’s patient care takeaways

Elected officials, including Rep. Katie Porter (shown above), are joining NUHW members in opposing an attempt by Kaiser to reduce the amount of time mental health therapists in Southern California would have for critical patient care duties.

LA LGBT Center workers ratify contract with improved salaries and security measures

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Phlebotomists win higher salaries, $6,000 in back wages

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Workers ready to picket West Anaheim Medical Center

Elected officials and community allies are supporting NUHW members in their fight for a fair contract.

NUHW-backed reform bill clears key Assembly committee

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NUHW passes Pride Month resolution against growing extremist violence

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Workers at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland ratify new contracts, averting second strike

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NUHW participates in Mental Health Matters Day

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NUHW expands presence at Keck-USC healthcare system

Nearly two dozen workers at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center voted to join more than 1,700 of their Keck-USC colleagues as NUHW members.

Kindred San Diego workers ratify contract with 26 percent average wage increases

New agreement includes the highest wage scale of any Kindred hospital in Southern California.

Fighting to save birthing services in Petaluma

Chanting “Keep OB Open,” dozens of workers protested the closure of Petaluma Valley Hospital’s birthing center and vowed to continue fighting to reopen it.

UCSF Children’s Hospital Oakland workers authorize second strike

More than 1,300 NUHW members are preparing for a potential three-day strike after UCSF refused to make movement in contract negotiations following a one-day strike in April.

Mental health patients now have legal precedent on their side

In a unanimous ruling, an appeals court revived a class-action lawsuit by families of Kaiser Permanente patients who claim they or their loved ones did not receive adequate mental health care. The ruling is now legal precedent in California.

State Senate passes NUHW-backed bill to put California on pathway to guaranteed healthcare

SB 770 aims to make California the first state to guarantee its residents a standard set of comprehensive, high quality health benefits.

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The highly-respected Seton Medical Center social worker and case manager helped her colleagues secure their first contract.

Historic LGBTQ+ organization honors NUHW

NUHW was named Organization of the Year by the Stonewall Democratic Club, the largest LGBTQ+, feminist, and progressive political advocacy organization in Southern California.

Workers at Rogers Mental Health Clinic and Wellpath Santa Cruz jail vote to join NUHW

The newest NUHW members want to improve care for their patients, while securing fair wages and better working conditions.

State Senate advances NUHW-sponsored healthcare reform bill

SB 770 would set California on a path to becoming the first U.S. state to create a healthcare system in which no resident is denied care based on age, employment, disability, income, immigration status, or any other characteristic.

NUHW continues growth at Keck-USC

Workers at the USC Downtown Clinic overwhelmingly voted to join NUHW, while our union's more than 1,700 members at Keck-USC helped their colleagues beat back the university's attempt to deny raises to new NUHW members at the Roski Eye Institute.

NUHW members hold largest-ever strike at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland

Since a 2014 affiliation agreement put UCSF Health in control of the non-profit 223-bed Oakland hospital and satellite clinics, NUHW members and their colleagues have repeatedly raised concerns about UCSF under-resourcing care in the East Bay.

Member Profile: Shannon Signer

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital radiology tech uses her retail and teaching experience to advocate for coworkers

NUHW members get Fountain Valley Regional Hospital cited for inadequate care

Investigation by California regulator confirms hundreds of complaints filed by NUHW members about the hospital’s unsafe staffing levels.

How NUHW members won a great contract at Providence Tarzana

After failing to accomplish their goals in their previous contract campaign, workers at Providence Cedars Sinai Tarzana Medical Center built unprecedented unity to win bigger raises and other gains this year.

NUHW on leading edge of fight for charity care

Several years before prosecutors filed a lawsuit against Providence for sending debt collectors after patients who qualified for free care, NUHW members were blowing the whistle on its charity care violations in California.

NUHW members at Elk Grove Unified School District win big raises

After re-opening their contract last year, the workers secured a 10 percent retroactive raise as well as an additional bonus and better benefits.

Fountain Valley NUHW members honored at economic justice gala

At its annual Architects of Justice Awards banquet this month, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice honored the approximately 850 nurses and professional workers at the Tenet hospital who joined NUHW last year and won a contract with strong raises and patient protections.

Member Profile: Lucy Cisneros

Petaluma Valley Hospital ultrasound tech brings her fighting spirit from the tennis court to her Providence (St. Joseph) hospital.

Mental health therapists at Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii ratify contract ending 172-day strike

The three-year agreement preserves pensions and includes guaranteed raises without which Kaiser stood to lose even more therapists, resulting in even longer appointment wait times for patients.

NUHW members help lead fight to save acclaimed birthing center

With Providence (St. Joseph Health) seeking to close the birthing center at Petaluma Valley Hospital in violation of its purchase agreement, caregivers are joining forces with community leaders to save the facility.

Providence St. Joseph Health hospice workers join NUHW

Fighting to preserve their patient-first principles amid layoffs and cutbacks, the Sonoma County workers united behind the organizing drive.

Newly unionized Sutter caregivers win fight for merit raises

Sutter halted merit raises after workers voted to join NUHW, but workers stayed united, fought back and settled a complaint requiring that Sutter restore the raises with interest.

Seton professionals win long battle for better wages

After more than a year at the bargaining table, workers won 16 percent raises over three years.

Kindred workers in San Diego gain voluntary union recognition

With worker support for joining NUHW crystal clear, the hospital chain opted to recognize their union rather than to request a formal vote.

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Find out how much you’d save with Medicare for All

The Sacramento Bee recently ran a commentary about a tool designed by Healthy California Now and NUHW letting Californians calculate how much money they’d save if the state adopted a single-payer Medicare for All healthcare system. Find out how much you'd save.