Tag: healthcare

Don’t Blame the Victim, Blame the System

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Here in Oakland, at Highland Hospital, our doors are open and we provide care for those who have been pushed to the brink of society (the unemployed, the unhoused, the uninsured). We have chosen to work […]

If Hospital Workers Ran Highland…

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Alameda Health System CEO James Jackson recently sent out a memo that AHS is facing a budget gap of $100 million for the fiscal year, and needs to close the gap by June of this year. […]

Residents Unionize!

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. In recent weeks, residents from Kaiser Northern California have formalized the process of starting a union. This marks a significant step forward, potentially establishing the first union for residents in a Northern California Kaiser facility and […]

Don’t Be Tricked: Nurses with a Living Wage Improve Patient Care!

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Last week, Santa Clara County nurses of the Registered Nurses Professional Association went on a three-day strike at three public hospitals – Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (VMC), O’Connor and St. Louise. This was the union’s […]

Speak Out Now General Newsletter: March 17, 2024

Download .pdf leaflet Corporations Report Record Profits by Squeezing Working People Looking at prices for basic necessities can make you want to cry. Since 2019, gas and housing costs are up 21%, a gallon of milk is up 30%, and a dozen eggs is up 97%. This doesn’t include the other necessities like heating, medical […]

What’s Going on With Bargaining at AHS?

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Our Highland SEIU-1021 contract expires May 31st, which is only 3 months away! So far, we’ve had a contract kick-off rally, where we chanted, ate some burritos, and got ourselves a purple union t-shirt. We’ve also […]

To Save a Buck, Let’s All Catch TB!

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. We know that Kaiser is notorious for cutting corners, but the recent email sent to all Kaiser employees that the hospital would no longer be mandating tuberculosis (TB) testing, appeared almost like an early April Fool’s […]

Highland Workers Hold Daily Vigils

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. For the past few weeks, workers at Highland Hospital have been commemorating the lives of the children killed in the ongoing attacks on Gaza. What started as a one time action on World Children’s Day (November […]

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 […]

Short Staffing = Short Breaks

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. At a time of severe understaffing at Highland, we truly need our rest when we finally go on break. But there is never enough time to break when the hospital is always in dire need of […]

The Long Wait

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. One word of advice for incoming Kaiser patients: patience! Because of understaffing, it is almost inevitable that it will take a much longer time to get an appointment than it should. For patients who have been […]

Transport Worker Cuts Impact Kaiser Care

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. A hospital is not made up of solely healthcare providers and patients. Hospitals function because of the vital responsibilities of all its workers: those who transport patients, the ones who move medications from one building to […]

Online Townhall Sat. November 6th

n the midst of a pandemic that has ravaged the world, especially its most marginalized communities, we have often found ourselves asking where we went wrong and how we could do better at health care.

As Delta Rages, Politicians Play Games With Our Lives

Throughout this pandemic, politicians at all levels, and in both parties, have exposed the priorities of the system they protect. They are not interested in protecting the health of the population. All they are concerned about is protecting this economy and their petty careers.

Quality Health Care for All

For-Profit Healthcare Healthcare has become a multibillion-dollar industry. Hospital administrators, not healthcare workers, make decisions about worker and patient safety while pharmaceutical companies fund medical research, making their profits off of patient need. This is healthcare under capitalism – a system that prioritizes profits over peoples’ quality of life. Nearly one out of eleven people […]