No negotiations scheduled. Picket lines will continue weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout Southern California.
Glendale, Calif – As Kaiser struggles to deliver care nearly one month into a strike by nearly 2,400 mental health therapists, social workers, psychologists and psychiatric nurses, its hospice services face severe staffing shortages that have left patients suffering in pain.
The National Union of Healthcare Workers is seeking an immediate audit of Kaiser’s hospice services. In a complaint filed Friday with the California Department of Public Health, the union, which represents striking Kaiser workers, reported that Kaiser Hospice of San Diego had just two medical social workers trying to replace five strikers and that Kaiser Hospice Fontana had just one medical social worker trying to replace a staff of four full-time social workers and two part time workers.
In San Diego, the complaint alleges that multiple patients reported suffering pain to the replacement medical social workers on duty, but the replacement workers never followed up with nursing staff. “Hospice nurses only learned about the pain after doing their routine visits to patients’ homes,” according to the complaint. “Consequently, patients experienced pain for days without it being managed.”
The complaint also alleges that by understaffing its hospices Kaiser is violating Medicare requirements for quickly identifying the mental health needs of patients and providing services that are up to federal standards.
“Severe chronic understaffing was a major reason why we went on strike, but it’s alarming to see just how little regard Kaiser has for patients and families that are dying and facing losing a loved one, “ said Dr. Jared Garcia, a striking social worker in Kaiser’s hospice system. “This requires an urgent investigation to ensure that vulnerable patients and their families are getting the treatment and services they’re entitled to receive.”
There are still no bargaining sessions scheduled as Kaiser has refused to come to the table with proposals what would provide its mental health workforce in Southern California with the same amount of time for critical patient care duties that can’t be done during appointments as their counterparts in Northern California — as well as the same wage levels and retirement benefits as comparable workers throughout the Kaiser system.
Picket lines will begin at 8 a.m. and run through 2 p.m. this week. On Monday, workers will picketing be at the following locations:
- Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC), 4867 W. Sunset Blvd.
- San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
- Fontana Medical Center, 9961 Sierra Ave., Fontana
- Anaheim Medical Center, 3440 East La Palma Ave., Anaheim
On Tuesday, workers will be picketing at the following locations:
- Riverside Medical Center, 10800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside
- Woodland Hills Medical Center, 5601 De Soto, Ave., Woodland Hills
- San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
- Downey Medical Center, 9333 Imperial Highway, Downey
There will be a lunchtime rally with community and elected leaders at all strike locations. Click here for a full list of picket line locations and times and click here for a fact sheet about the strike.
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The National Union of Healthcare Workers is a member-led movement that represents 19,000 healthcare workers in California and Hawai’i, including more than 4,700 Kaiser mental health professionals.
