Registered nurses at UCSF Medical Center will hold a press conference and rally at the hospital on Tuesday, Aug. 23, to voice opposition to the announced closure of UCSF Home Health Care, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) announced today.

Supervisor Jane Kim and other community members will join nurses at the rally.

The elimination of UCSF Home Health Care, scheduled for Sept. 30, 2016, will make it more difficult for current and future UCSF patients to access the necessary specialized home health resources they depend on, nurses say, especially patients who are already marginalized and underserved. 

“UCSF nurses want our patients to receive the best care possible; we know that Home Health Care is a vital service that improves the lives of our patients,” said UCSF RN, Erin Carrera. “For UCSF to try and eliminate the Home Health Care services while at the same time giving the CEO, who makes over a million dollars, a raise, just goes against our values as RNs and patient advocates.

What: Press Conference / rally: UCSF RNs and community allies voice opposition to UCSF Health’s announced closure of Home Health services effective Sept. 30, 2016
When: Tuesday, Aug. 23 - 12 p.m. noon
Where: UCSF Medical Center, Parnassus Campus, 505 Parnassus Ave, SF, Ca.

The Home Health Care program is a critical community healthcare service that UCSF has provided for over 16 years. UCSF Home Health Care patients often have the kind of complex conditions and higher acuities requiring the care of RNs with specialized skills and competencies. UCSF Home Health Care has had increasing patient visits over the past 3 years, with 19,742 home health visits in 2015 and UCSF has acknowledged there is a growing demand for these services.

In July, UCSF management announced their plan to close UCSF Home Health at the end of September 2016. In the communication to UCSF staff, the announcement states, "...it has become increasingly difficult to financially sustain the UCSF Home Health Care program. No insurer or payer to this program generates a positive margin of money, and any additional growth will lead to increased losses.”

“We believe that profitability should not be the deciding factor in deciding what critical services we provide to our patients,” said Randy Howell, RN, “If UCSF is able to cut the Home Health care program, it will have a severe impact on the most vulnerable patients we serve. San Francisco is already facing increasing economic disparity which results in the most marginalized communities having fewer healthcare resources, we believe UCSF should be part of the solution and not contribute to the problem.”

Many public health services and ‘private’ home health agencies do not provide the level of care needed to treat the patient population that the UCSF Home Health program serves, such as transplant and pediatric patients. Nurses are concerned that the lack of available and clinically appropriate home health care will increase readmissions and negative outcomes, especially to low-income and underserved patients with chronic conditions.