Kaiser workers in Ventura County join massive three-day strike; area clinics remain open
Hundreds of Kaiser Permanente workers from Ventura County marched with picket signs protesting staff shortages on Wednesday as part of the nation's largest-ever health care strike.
Across six states and Washington, D.C., more than 75,000 Kaiser employees launched a three-day strike that ends in California at 6 a.m. Saturday. The workers include medical assistants, respiratory therapists, emergency room workers, phlebotomists, dietary workers, behavioral health employees, patient transporters, housekeeping staff and others.
More than 200 union members from Ventura County joined picket lines outside Kaiser's Woodland Hills Medical Center. Mikki Fletchall, strike captain and a licensed vocational nurse in Camarillo, said about 380 local workers are expected to honor a work action calling for better compensation and a solution to what union members call a staffing crisis.
"We've been through a pandemic. We’ve come out, and we’re still short of staff," Fletchall said. "They want to get more work out of less people. They keep adding on duties."
Bargaining between Kaiser and a coalition of unions continued Wednesday. Kaiser leaders have defended their offers, saying they're balancing costs with being more affordable to members.
The system’s medical office buildings in Ventura County will stay open during the strike though laboratory facilities at some sites closed. Nearby Kaiser hospitals and emergency rooms are also open.
Health system officials said plans for dealing with the strike could include bringing on more people in critical care roles, rescheduling non-emergency procedures and using more community pharmacies.
"As a result of this strike, we may experience high call volumes resulting in longer than usual wait times," they said on Kaiser's website. "We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience."
They also said clinics will contact patients if appointments have been rescheduled; people do not need to call medical offices. They said updates will be posted online.
About 144,000 county residents are Kaiser members. Several people at clinics on Market Street and Hill Road in Ventura said business went on as usual Wednesday. Maureen Wain said one difference she noticed was that her doctor checked her blood pressure and performed other tasks usually done by other employees.
Other patients said they were notified their appointments had not been rescheduled.
"We didn't even know about it," said Nicole Corsi of the strike. The Ventura resident took her father to the Hill Road center for an appointment.
Union members accuse Kaiser officials of bargaining in bad faith and said they could strike again in November if an agreement isn't reached. Outside the Woodland Hills hospital, they yelled out chants like "Kaiser, Kaiser can't you hear health care workers loud and clear."
The message is more people need to be hired, said Norma Hidalgo, a long-time lab worker at a Kaiser site in Camarillo.
"It’s almost like every person there does the job of two people," she said.
Kaiser officials said progress was being made in negotiations. They've also noted they’ve hired more than 50,000 frontline employees across the company in two years though acknowledging the shortage.
"Every health care provider in the nation has been facing staffing shortages and fighting burnout," they said in a written statement Tuesday. "We are all struggling to catch up with care that was delayed, and we have had fewer people to help carry the work forward. "
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County Kaiser workers join largest-ever health care strike
