S.J. General Hospital reassures patients amid nurses strike
Despite a walkout by San Joaquin General Hospital nursing staff early Thursday morning, hospital officials said there have been no disruptions in service.
“We want to assure the community that the hospital is open and available to provide care to those who need it,” said David Culberson, CEO of San Joaquin General Hospital. “We have however rescheduled elective, nonemergency surgeries until after the strike. We regret the inconvenience this will cause to some people.”
The California Nurses Association recently provided notice to county officials that registered nurses at the hospital and several county health departments would go on strike on Thursday.
The CNA, which represents 740 nurses at the hospital, is pushing for higher wages, better patient staffing and the recruitment and retention of experienced nurses. They claim that a county report found that 375 nurses left the hospital from January 2016 through August 2018, and that according to the county’s training cost analysis, retraining nurses for those positions would cost more than $8 million.
“The nurses at San Joaquin General Hospital know what it is like to face a dangerous nurse staffing crisis, as we lived through it in the not-so-distant past,” said Kelly Mertz, a registered nurse in the trauma department. “We worked with the county to improve working conditions and we have seen those protections translate into better retention and recruitment of experienced nurses who are serving our community. Unfortunately, the county now wants to eliminate many of these improvements, and we know these changes will drive away experienced nurses, which has a negative impact on our patients.”
The strike, which is expected to last through Saturday morning, is tied to a labor impasse between the county and the association, which has been working without a contract since the beginning of 2019. Since labor negotiations began in December 2018 the county and CNA have had 24 bargaining sessions.
Following negotiations last October, the county initiated discussions with HealthSource Global
Staffing — a medical staffing company that provides short-term contracts to traveling medical staff — in preparation for a potential strike.
San Joaquin County Deputy Administrator Jolena Voorhis said the county respects the work of its nursing staff and believes they should be compensated fairly, but added that the most recent proposal put forth by the union is millions more than the county can afford.
Voorhis noted that San Joaquin County General is a public hospital, with 65% of its patients on Medicare or Medi-Cal.
“These financial limitations mean that it doesn’t have the same resources as a major forprofit hospital,” Voorhis said. “The county received a receipt of a strike notice on Feb. 24, and notified HSG to mobilize their team to provide coverage (for patients) beginning 7 a.m. on March 5,” Voorhis said.
On Wednesday morning, 185 HSG registered nurses with valid California licenses received orientation at the hospital before reporting to work.
The nurses will be at the hospital through March 9 at an estimated cost of $4 million.
Voorhis said nursing managers are providing leadership on all of the nursing units as well as nurses that were identified as essential employees.
“All important functions, including the emergency department, trauma service, base station radio room, labor and delivery, ICU, operating rooms and other medical and surgical units remain fully functional,” she said.