RNs will hold picket to demonstrate mounting opposition among staff, community to cuts at safety net hospital 

Registered nurses at Alameda Hospital in Alameda, Calif. will picket outside the hospital on June 10 to pressure hospital and county leaders to reverse dangerous cuts to patient care. As early as July 1, Alameda and East Bay residents could lose access to surgical services at Alameda Hospital.

“We are horrified by Alameda Health System’s decision to cut surgical services that save our patients’ lives,” said Elsa Villegas, RN in the subacute unit, who has worked in Alameda Hospital for 43 years. “It is unacceptable that Alameda Health would make you or a loved one wait for a transfer to Highland or San Leandro if you needed an operation. Especially in emergency situations, time is a luxury our patients can’t afford. ”

Nurses are focusing their attention on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors, who will meet on June 18. They’re calling on the county’s elected leaders, who have oversight over the hospital’s operator Alameda Health System (AHS), to reverse the AHS decision because it would negatively impact public health and undermine the hospital’s safety net role.

“Many of our patients are on Medicaid or uninsured, and they come to Alameda Hospital because it is the only place they can receive care,” said Anna Dorion, RN who works in the operating room. “Cutting their access to essential, life-saving services is antithetical to Alameda Health’s own mission of promoting ‘community health.’ Everyone, regardless of their income or background, deserves quality care.”

• Who:    RNs at Alameda Hospital
• What:   Picket to maintain surgical services at Alameda Hospital
• When:  Monday, June 10, 2:00-4:00 p.m. 
• Where: Alameda Hospital | 2070 Clinton Ave, Alameda, CA 94501

Preserving surgical services would not just be in line with the community’s needs, but also with the recommendations of Alameda’s Joint Planning Commission (JPC), a collaboration between the Alameda Hospital District and AHS to steer the hospital’s future. The Joint Planning Committee recommended maintaining existing acute-care beds, as well as elective surgeries and transfers.

CNA represents almost 200 registered nurses at Alameda Hospital. Nurses at Alameda Hospital have been in contract negotiations since December 2023. Their contract expired April 2024.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and nearly 225,000 RNs nationwide.