Nurses Call on County To Address Key Issues to Settle Dispute

Nurses who work at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and clinics across the County remain on track to begin a two-day strike Tuesday, October 6 after County officials lost court efforts today to enjoin the walkout.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which represents almost 1000 County registered nurses, nurse practitioners and public health nurses, says there is still time to prevent the strike if the County will end its stalled bargaining stance and work with the nurses to resolve the key problems that have led to the loss of many experienced nurses and have put quality care for community residents at risk.

CNA called on the County to immediately improve working conditions for County nurses in order to stop the hemorrhaging of experienced nurses to private hospitals.

The County’s Board of Supervisors authorized $3.7 million to hire replacement nurses for the strike—funds nurses say should go toward addressing the serious patient care issues nurses have brought to the County’s attention.

“That same commitment of funding would go a long way to reducing the enormous wage disparities between RNs who work for the public, at County facilities, and the surrounding private hospitals. We are losing our longtime, experienced nurses. That is a key factor in the dispute,” said Liz Isenberg, RN.

Isenberg is a critical care nurse, who has devoted her nursing career to County residents.  “It is disgraceful that the County would readily find the resources for other nurses rather than providing for the regular nurses, many of whom have devoted years of service to the County and County residents and patients,” Isenberg said.

CNA notes there is a 30 percent wage gap for County RNs compared to the nearby private hospitals. Over 100 nurses have left the County in the last year.

“Eroding conditions jeopardize the County’s mission statement of providing quality health care to the residents of Contra Costa County at its safety net hospital and outpatient clinics. The essential element in the ability to provide quality health care is the expertise of the nurses. Sadly, the County is not investing in its loyal, experienced nurses and the loss of experienced nurses leads to a number of patient safety problems,” said Rosalind Walker, a Medical/Surgical RN who has been with the county for 29 years.

“Recently graduated nurses who find a first job with the County repeatedly move on to better standards at other hospitals. As a result, the County has essentially become a training center for the area’s private hospitals. Taxpayers are subsidizing the private sector hospitals by training the nurses for them,” said telemetry RN Wayne Dixon, who has been with the county for 12 years.

Nurses have been in negotiations with the County for 15 months and have been working without a contract since July.

Contra Costa County operates numerous health clinics, as well as Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, a full-service, acute care hospital in Martinez, Ca.