Kaiser Serves up Layoffs and Junk Food
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Kaiser announced last week layoffs throughout the food service department at Oakland and other Kaiser campuses across California. Although Kaiser claims it will offer a period of continued salary and benefits to laid-off workers, this will […]
Kaiser Workers Go on Strike
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. On Monday, September 8th, more than 600 Kaiser midwives and nurse anesthetists went on a one-day strike to demand better working conditions. This was their first strike as they negotiate their very first contract, and their […]
Food Fight
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. The nutrition department at Kaiser Oakland is changing the menu for our patients. Better food based on scientific research? Of course not, Kaiser tends to make decisions based on saving money, which does not mean bettering […]
Victory for Mental Health Workers in Southern California
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. After months of striking, mental health workers in Kaiser Southern California ended their fight with some positive news. Their efforts, which lasted 196 days, survived through the cold of winter and terrible LA fires, and led […]
Working in Healthcare (AKA Sacrifice With No Returns)
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. There is an obvious healthcare crisis in the U.S. Every year thousands of people struggle to pay for medical care, and many go through the unpleasant surprise that, despite paying for health insurance every month, they […]
Kaiser Mental Health Workers Reach Tentative Agreement
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. On Monday, May 5th, a tentative agreement (TA) was reached between the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), the union which mental health workers at Kaiser are organized in, and Kaiser in Southern California. Mental health […]
Sick and Stressed Out From Work? You’re Not Alone.
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Working at Kaiser Oakland means being prepared to deal with the effects of chronic short staffing, never-ending workloads, and long hours. It’s no surprise that so many of us end up facing physical and mental health […]
Hunger Strike by Kaiser Workers
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Southern California mental health workers at Kaiser are still on strike. They are now engaged in the longest mental health strike in U.S. history. To escalate their tactics against Kaiser, 8 mental health workers at Kaiser […]
Kaiser: National Expansion = Record Profits
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Last month, Kaiser announced their 2024 financial results, including $12.9 billion dollars in profits! This was a 300% increase in their profits compared to 2023. More than half of these new profits were from new healthcare […]
Attacks on the Horizon at Kaiser
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Once again an attack on Kaiser workers is on the horizon. At Kaiser Vacaville and Vallejo, as well as other facilities, Kaiser management is cutting security guards and other similar contractor positions, a total of 300 […]
Kaiser Mental Health Workers Strike Reaches 100 Days While Fires Blaze
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. This Tuesday, January 28th, marks the 100th day that Kaiser Southern California mental health workers have been on strike. Kaiser management and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), the union representing striking mental health workers, […]
What’s Kaiser Planning?
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Once more, Kaiser management is planning changes to our jobs while not asking for anyone’s feedback, which negatively impacts our work. For the last year, a threat has been looming on the horizon, and now it […]
Cancel and Lie? It’s the Same Story
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. In 2022, when Northern California Kaiser mental health workers went on strike for 10 weeks, Kaiser publicly claimed they were finding alternative providers. They did this because even during a strike, Kaiser is required by California […]
Spending Thanksgiving on Strike
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. The Southern California Kaiser mental health workers’ strike continues, now over 40 days in length. Meanwhile, Kaiser has still failed to present a proposal that includes better pay and improved staffing levels. The long struggle on […]
KP People Pulse & Elections: How Do Things Change?
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. KP People Pulse took place last month and the results are being gathered. In certain ways, People Pulse is like the election we just went through – it is framed as an opportunity to give feedback […]
Update: Kaiser Mental Health Workers Strike
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. As the second week of the strike unfolds, over 2,400 Kaiser mental health workers in Southern California continue their fight for better wages and working conditions. The strike, led by the National Union of Healthcare Workers […]
Mental Health is a Struggle at Kaiser
Receiving mental health services at Kaiser can be a significant struggle. Due to chronic short staffing, wait times for patient appointments can stretch to three months! Ironically, even Kaiser employees face these long waits. Kaiser has increasingly encouraged group therapy while patients await their one-on-one appointments, or they outsource patients to other providers when they […]
KP People Pulse: Pretending to Care
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Every year, when People Pulse comes around, we know what’s coming—constant reminders to fill out our forms so management can gather feedback. Surprisingly or not, the atmosphere at work becomes friendlier, with managers and administration putting […]
Kaiser: Morning Confusion
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Last Wednesday Kaiser Oakland implemented a new policy. Now, before 8am, workers have to enter the hospital for a shift by badging in to the main entrance on MacArthur, as opposed to the usual normal door […]
“On Call” Doesn’t Mean at Management’s Beck and Call
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Kaiser expects a lot from its on call workers – but the obligation seems to only go one way. The most recent SEIU-UHW contract, for example, allows managers to require on calls give up to 10 […]
Short Staffing Tragedy
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. A few days ago at Kaiser Vallejo, a man lost his life while waiting in the emergency room. He arrived in critical condition and needed urgent care. However, due to short staffing, he waited for 8 […]
All Across the Board
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. At Kaiser there is a mystery to be solved – how can it be that experiences at Southern California and Northern California Kaiser are so different? For Kaiser patients this could mean that transferring your Southern […]
Fighting AI
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. About two weeks ago, nurses rallied in front of the Kaiser SF facility to protest the rapid introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Kaiser, and the lack of transparency in how these technologies are being implemented […]
Kaiser’s Mainframe Madness
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Why are we, at one of the largest healthcare companies (and the largest private employer in the state), still using software that looks like it’s from the 1990s?? Mainframe, the software we use for our time […]
Kaiser’s Historic Strike! But What Will Result?
On October 4, 75,000 Kaiser healthcare workers went out on an unfair labor practices strike (ULP). The strike was set to last three days, ending at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday the 7th. Many are considering the strike historic, the largest healthcare workers’ strike in U.S. history. There has been a lot of media coverage of […]
Kaiser: Out on Strike?
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. As of October 1st, Kaiser has yet to bring a reasonable offer to the table, so the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is still planning to go out on strike October 4th-6th. Kaiser continues to refuse […]
Kaiser Permanente’s Medical Waste Scandal: The True Cost of Healthcare Profits
Kaiser Permanente, the healthcare giant, has agreed to a $49-million-dollar settlement as a result of its unlawful disposal of hazardous materials, improper management of other medical waste, and mishandling of protected patient data. Investigators found items such as blood and body parts in trash bins destined to go to local landfills. They also found over […]
Kaiser Mental Health Clinicians Fight for the Care Their Patients Deserve
Thousands of Northern California Kaiser mental health clinicians have been on strike since Monday, advocating for better mental healthcare for their patients. This comes after a year of failed negotiations between the union and Kaiser to increase staffing and provide more timely care to patients. These clinicians understand first-hand the importance of adequate access to […]