Nurses strike in Santa Clara County could postpone surgeries
The union representing nurses at safety net hospitals in the Bay Area’s largest county plans to strike next week over what it says are unsafe conditions for patients and nurses, forcing hospital officials to potentially postpone surgeries and bring in temporary workers.
The Registered Nurses Professional Association, which represents 3,700 nurses at Santa Clara County’s public hospital system, has issued a notice of a planned three-day strike to begin Tuesday. The strike is expected to affect Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, Custody Health Services for adults and juveniles, and primary care and ambulatory care clinics throughout the county, said union vice president Maybelline Que.
The union’s previous contract with the county expired in October, and the two sides have been negotiating a new pact since August, Que said. She said the talks have reached an impasse over working conditions and wages, including a policy on patient acuity — a measure of how sick patients are, and thus how much care they need — that affects how many nurses are assigned to each floor. Nurses are concerned that proposed changes would create unsafe conditions for patients and staff, Que said.
The county said it is not proposing changes to the acuity system as part of the contract negotiations, only to the review process for assessing staff concerns.
If a strike does occur, emergency medical care will continue, and surgeries that cannot be safely rescheduled will go on as planned, the county said. Some surgeries and appointments may be postponed, and the health system will directly contact patients if their care will be interrupted.
“Our highest priority is making sure our community members continue to get the highquality care they need,” county executive James Williams said in a statement. “We are taking all necessary steps to safeguard patients, employees and visitors from the impacts of any possible strike activity.”
The county is projecting a $250 million deficit for fiscal year 2024 to 2025. Nurses represented by the union have one of the most competitive salary and benefits packages for clinical nurses in the Bay Area, the county said, with average annual pay around $259,000 in wages and $326,500 including wages and benefits.