With a clinically abysmal mental health care record, the hospital giant has dug in at the bargaining table.
The union and health care provider are split over pension and prep time issues.
A letter signed by a majority of both houses calls on the health care giant to accept proposals from 2,400 striking mental health care workers.
A union complaint filed with California regulators says a leaked internal memo shows Kaiser intended to break its own rules and state law, leaving patients without care during the ongoing strike.
The health care provider canceled patient appointments during a 2022 strike. State regulators say they are making sure the company does not break the law during the current strike in Southern California.
A year after the health care giant settled with California regulators, about 2,400 SoCal mental health workers say patients still lack timely care due to understaffing.
Kaiser and regulators are two months away from their deadline for a required action plan to overhaul mental health treatment at the state’s largest health care provider.
A therapist is “guardedly optimistic” the health care giant is taking the shortage seriously, and the union says Kaiser may now realize it must invest billions to comply with the law.
A California settlement compels the state’s largest health care provider to spend $150 million on behavioral health services.
Once known for strong employee-management relations, its workers now say staffing and pay need to rise to attract and retain the staff Kaiser needs.
While it ponders ambitious new laws to improve mental health, California could strengthen what’s already on the books.
After 10 weeks of workers walking the picket line, core issues regarding patient care remain unresolved.
Legislators struggle to make good intentions mean something in the face of lax enforcement.
In the second month of the Bay Area strike, HMO says a majority of union clinicians have returned to work.
A quarter of 1,500 Kaiser clinicians surveyed in California said they had patients who could not access care in their primary language.
Striking Kaiser Permanente mental health workers say children may suffer even more than adults from delays in treatment.
Economists say fines are far cheaper than hiring staff. Kaiser says the union creates crises.
The HMO needs to hire more clinicians to ensure that patients wait no more than the legally mandated 10 days between appointments, says veteran therapist.
Striking Kaiser therapist says patients stuck without appointments ‘don’t have that backup.’
Her patients are waiting months for therapy. ‘This strike is not about money,’ says Sacramento therapist Jane Kostka.