Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Labor
September 14, 2021 04:55 PM

Bay Area healthcare workers vote to strike, alleging widespread understaffing

Mari Devereaux
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    healthcare workers
    John Boehm

    More than 500 healthcare workers at two facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area voted to strike, saying they've endured understaffing, challenging working conditions, and unfair labor practices.

    Set to take place in October, the strikes will include a variety of employees from Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch and John Muir Behavioral Health Center in Concord, including emergency room technicians, mental health counselors, respiratory therapists, transporters and licensed vocational nurses, among other positions.

    Workers at each location allege that the facilities' dire conditions stem from management ignoring concerns about severe understaffing.

    A major worry for healthcare employees is not being able to ensure patient and staff safety while being "pushed to the limit" by employers, according to a Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West news release.

    "We're drowning—there's just not enough staff," Jennifer Stone, an emergency room technician at Sutter Delta Medical Center, said in the news release. "We're wearing too many hats—we're talking down angry COVID-19 patients, then we're rushing to a code, then we're talking to family members who just lost a loved one. We can't give adequate care. We're being neglected and left to fend for ourselves, and we can't do it all anymore."

    Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, workers claim that the facilities failed to provide adequate staffing for average patient levels due to years of poor management decisions.

    Sutter Delta Medical Center did not respond to requests for comment by publication.

    Bay Area caregivers say the past year has only worsened the extent of the crisis and further strained the healthcare infrastructure crumbling under a lack of workers.

    Despite 85% of workers voting for union representation at John Muir Behavioral Health Center and beginning to organize in May 2020, staff have not been taken seriously at the bargaining table and management has made numerous changes without considering union input, claimed Sara Eisensteadt, a social services clinician at the medical center.

    "The level of disrespect from our management has become something that is unbearable within the context of the pandemic," Eisensteadt said. "We're already tired and working so incredibly hard that it feels like such a slap in the face to not be supported or respected by our employer."

    In an email, John Muir Health said it has held 12 negotiating sessions since mid-May to reach a contract agreement with SEIU-UHS. The hospital said it has filled 18 positions and is in the process of hiring for 11 additional positions. Union members have been asked if they would volunteer for overtime shifts while the hospital continues the hiring process, the email noted.

    "Unfortunately, SEIU-UHW's leaders' response to staffing concerns has been to encourage employees not to take overtime or open shifts," the hospital email said. "The union just completed a two-week labor action that caused us to further limit behavioral health admissions to children, adolescents and adults."

    Clinician burnout, overtime and understaffing doesn't just mean long wait times, Eisensteadt said. Patients can die if there is not sufficient medical staff to take care of them.

    Throughout the pandemic, many healthcare workers have planned and carried out strikes due to a lack of personal protective equipment, a lack of adequate pay, and facilities being short-staffed.

    Across the country, thousands are posting travel nurse positions to meet the demand for clinical staff and reduce their worker shortages.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    BP2W 2022 - main image
    Best Places to Work in Healthcare - 2022 (alphabetical list)
    Healthcare hiring rose in April, jobs report shows
    Healthcare hiring rose in April, jobs report shows
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing