Kaiser Permanente patients and picketers share their strike stories: 'So heartbreaking'
More than 75,000 employees of Kaiser Permanente started a three-day strike on Wednesday, which is being called the largest health care strike in U.S. history. The strike, which affects health care workers and patients in multiple states, is over staffing shortages and what employees say is low pay.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions specifically calls this an "unfair labor practice strike" on its website, noting that workers will strike through Saturday morning. "This three-day strike will be the initial demonstration of our strength to Kaiser that we will not stand for their unfair labor practices," according to the site.
"Like all collective bargaining agreements, a number of people across the workforce were looking at ways to improve the work environment," Richard Ricciardi, executive director for the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University, tells Yahoo Life. A lot of these workers put in extra hours while dealing with understaffing during the pandemic and have continued to do so since, he says.
"Post-pandemic, they've been giving an extra yard to serve their communities, states and country, and they're not feeling valued for that effort," Ricciardi says. "Thus, they're striking to improve working conditions and salary."
The strike is also about safety and quality of care, he says. "The health care workforce is very much concerned about safety and health," Ricciardi says. "There's a pretty direct connection between the quality of the work environment and the ability to provide safe care."
Doctors and many nurses are not involved in the strike, according to the New York Times, but support staff and other employees are. Those include X-ray technicians, receptionists, medical assistants, sanitation workers and pharmacy employees — and that's expected to lead to delays in nonurgent procedures such as cancer screenings, as well as appointment times, Ricciardi says. Some Kaiser Permanent labs have also temporarily closed, the N.Y. Times reports.
Kaiser Permanente is the country's largest private nonprofit health care organization, serving 12.7 million Americans. So what is the strike like for patients and why are workers picketing in the first place? Read a breakdown, below.
How is the strike affecting patients?
Some patients have spoken out publicly about how the strike is affecting them and their families, including having procedures postponed or canceled. Here are their stories:
Lisa Franceschi Schnaidt shared on Facebook that her husband, John, had appointments for lab work and chemotherapy that were canceled due to the Kaiser strike, noting that she was "still reeling" from a call she got about it. "In what universe would second line chemotherapy to a pancreatic cancer patient with metastasis to the lung be considered 'non-urgent appointment or procedure?!'" she wrote. "I’m appalled at this whole thing. Taking our foot off the gas pedal right now cannot be in John’s best interest." Schnaidt also posted on Caring Bridge that she was told her husband would have his appointments next week. "God, I hope so," she wrote.
California resident Walter Adams's wife Sue had her 10-year-old pacemaker replaced last week, but she's experienced complications. “She had some problems with it, her blood pressure skyrocketed, her thinness of her blood got way too thin, so they wouldn’t let her be released [from the hospital],” Adams told CBS 8. Doctors were finally able to stabilize Sue Adams's blood pressure and released her from the hospital two days later, but her follow-up appointment with her cardiologist to check the pacemaker and remove bandages was canceled due to the strike. “The whole thing was really stressful for me because the complications with the surgery, the way that ended and we were worried about what the outcome was going to be Wednesday at the follow up appointment," Adams said.
Michael Signorio told CNN that he spent half a day waiting to get care after suffering from a torn meniscus in his knee. “I spent 12 hours [in the ER]," he said. "You know, it just didn’t sit right. Now, why? Because they’re understaffed, they need more people.” Signorio said he has an appointment in two weeks and he's been trying to see a doctor for three weeks. "I’ve been off work for a little bit now and I’m not liking it, I’m sure work’s not liking it,” he said.
California mom Tiffany Young told NBC News that her son Caden's ear tube surgery, which was scheduled for this week, was postponed until December because of limited staffing. The 17-month-old has suffered from recurring ear infections. "That was really upsetting," Young said, pointing out that the surgery would help relieve Caden's pain and reduce how often he would need to take antibiotics. “We were talking about it all last week, this week, how we’re looking forward to it, how we hope that it’s going to make him feel so much better, and then just getting that call yesterday was so heartbreaking,” she said. “I know that it’s considered minor but, to a parent, when your baby is suffering, it’s super important."
Why are workers striking?
Workers have also spoken out about why they've temporarily walked off the job.
Charmaine Arellano, a medical assistant at the Kaiser Permanente Lakewood medical offices, told Fox 31 Denver that understaffing is a big issue. "Kaiser executives refuse to acknowledge how much patient care has deteriorated or how much the front line health care workforce and patients are suffering because of the Kaiser short-staffing crisis," she said. "We’re taking action because we can’t let this staffing crisis continue."
Many Kaiser Permanente workers are struggling with burnout, Jessica Cruz, a vocational nurse at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center, told CBS News. Workers are "trying to do the jobs of two or three people, and our patients suffer when they can't get the care they need due to Kaiser's short-staffing," Cruz said.
Kaiser Permanente health care worker Rocio Chacon told CNN that workers are "exhausted," noting that the facility that she works at reminds her of the poor health care people received when she was growing up in Mexico. "I’m having flashbacks of what it was back home, me growing up," she said. "Coming into the emergency room and waiting to be seen for hours. Or even being left tied in a room waiting for an X-ray or for lab work. You might have a condition that might not be critical, but because you have not been seen within that period of time that could potentially save your life, it can be something very simple that can turn onto a bigger issue.” Chacon also said that some nurses will sleep in their cars because they have to travel two hours to get home because they can't afford the cost of living in California. "As we speak, there are nurses that are sleeping in their cars because of two reasons," she said. "One, they can’t afford cost of living here so they have to move two, three hours [away] and then because of short staff they’re working 14, 16 hours so they’re tired. So their best choice is to be Monday through Friday in their cars."
Ultrasound technician Michael Ramey, who has worked for Kaiser Permanente for 27 years, told CBS News that his job is now stressful due to staffing shortages. "You don't have the ability to care for patients in the manner they deserve," he said. "People are working more hours than they want to be working, and even that creates a problem with patient care — if you know you're going to miss your kid's soccer game," he said. Ramey said he regularly fields complaints from patients about wait times and how long it takes to even get an appointment. "They are telling you how long it took to get the appointment, and then you have to tell them how long it will be to get results," Ramey said. "There's a breakdown in the quality of care. These are people in our communities."
Mikki Fletchall, a licensed vocational nurse based in a Kaiser medical office in Camarillo, Calif., told Fox 5 that workers feel unheard by officials at Kaiser Permanente. "They're not listening to the front line health care workers," she said. "We're striking because of our patients. We don't want to have to do it."
Pamela Reid, an optometrist at Kaiser's Marlow Heights Medical Center in Maryland, told NPR that wait times for an appointment in her clinic were up to 10 business days before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now, patients typically have to wait two months to be seen, and the number of optometrists across Kaiser's service regions has dropped from about 70 to fewer than 50, she said. Patients are "really already being affected," Reid said, adding, "Our goal with the strike is to hopefully change that."
Ricciardi says that there has been some misconception about why workers are striking. "There's this idea that people are going on strike because they're greedy," he says. "But in reality, only a very small percentage of money that goes into health care is actually going to health care professionals."
The strike is expected to end on Saturday. Negotiations have hit a stalemate, according to Reuters.
