Nurses at Desert Regional in Palm Springs strike, protesting for better patient care and staffing
City News Service
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Registered nurses at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs joined their colleagues at five other Tenet-operated hospitals in the state on Thursday for a one-day strike to protest what they call a refusal by ownership to improve patient care and staffing.
Nurses began striking at 7:00 a.m. Thursday and plan to continue until 7:00 a.m. Friday at the hospital, located at 1150 N. Indian Canyon Drive. A total of 3,100 nurses at six hospitals are expected to take part in the strike, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United union.
Desert Regional Medical Center issued the following statement:
“Desert Regional Medical Center and Hi-Desert Medical Center will continue to provide quality, compassionate patient care during a strike called by the California Nurses Association, the labor union representing our nursing staff. The hospitals will remain fully operational during the strike, and our staff’s focus, as always, will be on providing exceptional quality patient care and service.
Patients and their loved ones can be assured that our hospitals will be staffed with qualified and experienced replacement nurses as well as all of our other caregivers through the strike’s duration.
The union’s action is related to contract negotiations between the hospitals and the union. We are disappointed that the union is taking this strike action, which in our view is not constructive or necessary. We have been negotiating in good faith with the union to reach a new contract and even proposed to the union that the parties engage in a mediation to attempt to resolve any differences. Rather than engage in productive mediation and negotiations, the union provided us with its intent to strike.
Our focus will now shift to ensuring that patients will continue to receive the high-quality care they are accustomed to during the strike, and we stand ready to resume good faith negotiations at the strike’s conclusion. We remain focused on providing safe, quality care to our patients, just as we do every day.”
At Desert Regional Medical Center, union officials contend staffing has been cut below state-mandated patient ratios in the neonatal intensive care unit. Union officials say the hospital received a state waiver that is usually only granted in emergency situations to operate below the mandated staffing level.
“We demand safe staffing for our precious babies and that Tenet live up to its stated values of acting with integrity and the highest ethical standards, always,” Deb Edwards, a registered nurse at Desert Regional, said in a statement.
The nurses also call for: — guaranteed meal and rest break coverage; — improvements in recruiting and retention of experienced nurses; — dedicated staff for the task of lifting patients to help reduce injury to patients and nurses; and — safe staffing at all times.
Desert Regional Medical Center Nurse Linda Serrano joined fellow nurse co-workers on the picket line, saying, “We were very disappointed that Tenet . . . canceled our bargaining this last meeting in October. We’re urging Tenet Corporation to come back to the bargaining table with us so we can seal and vote on our next contract.”
Serrano also says Tenet nurses have been locked out due to the strike – meaning they will not be able to return to work until Sunday.
Union officials said Tenet Healthcare Corp. made $4.1 billion in profits last year and CEO Saum Sutaria made more than $24 million as the highest-paid health care CEO in the county.
“It’s clear to the nurses that Tenet is prioritizing profits over patients,” Joeton Labos, an ICU nurse at San Ramon Medical Center, said in a statement.
CNA has been in contract negotiations with Tenet since February.