Nurses from major Placer County hospitals (Kaiser and Sutter Health) will be hosting a press conference to emphasize that Placer County hospitals are not doing enough to protect our communities, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), the nation’s largest and fastest-growing RN union representing 150,000 registered nurses across the country. CNA/NNU members will highlight the following concerns:

• Inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure a safe workforce;
• The lack of a comprehensive staffing plan in the event of a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases in the county;
• The impact to patients and the community when a workforce is not safely protected; and,
• How prematurely opening up businesses in the County can endanger all of us.

 “We don't want our hospitals to mislead Placer County officials or the public into believing that we are prepared for a resurgence of COVID-19 patients. The hospitals' lack of safe and adequate PPE and safe staffing plan puts nurses, healthcare workers and patients at risk and has frontline staff concerned about our readiness for a potential spike in cases in Placer County,” said registered nurse Joanne Imwalle, quality liaison at Kaiser Roseville.

Who: Joanne Imwalle, RN, Kaiser Roseville; Renee Altaffer, Sutter Roseville trauma RN; and local nurses
What: Press conference on hospital readiness in the face of Placer County opening early
Where: Roseville City Hall, City Square
When: 9:00AM, May 19, 2020

If you are interested in sending a camera crew to the press conference or in learning more about the situation, please contact press@nationalnursesunited.org or Maryanne Henke, 916-869-5517 and Shawn Bartlett, 415-261-3276.