Registered nurses at Chinese Hospital in San Francisco, Calif., will hold an informational picket on Tuesday, March 25, to protest the administration’s failure to address RNs deep concerns about the safety of their immigrant patients, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU).

Nurses notified their employer on March 14 that they would hold an informational picket.

Chinese Hospital nurses have been in negotiations since September 2024 for a new contract with little to no movement on key issues. The RNs are demanding management invest in nursing staff and agree to a contract that provides:

• Safe staffing levels in all units at all times
• Robust measures to recruit and retain culturally competent nurses
• Protection for immigrant patients from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the hospital

High turnover and unsafe staffing levels throughout the hospital negatively impact patient care. Staffing levels at Chinese Hospital frequently leave nurses working without meal and rest breaks because they cannot leave their patients when no nurses are available to relieve them.

“We understand our patients in a way that can’t be taught or replicated because we are connected to this community,” said Gloria Lau, RN in the gastrointestinal department at Chinese Hospital. “Chinese Hospital needs to invest in retaining nurses with the language and cultural skills to care for our unique patient population.”

Who: Registered nurses at Chinese Hospital
What: Informational picket for patient safety and a fair contract
When: Tuesday March 25, 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Chinese Hospital, 845 Jackson Street, San Francisco (in front of the hospital)

Due to the federal government’s removal of safeguards against immigration enforcement actions in “safe havens,” such as hospitals, nurses have proposed that the hospital protect its mostly immigrant patients from inquiries about immigration status and detention by ICE at the facility. However, management has rejected the nurses’ proposal. 

“Hospitals should be places of healing, not fear,” said Gwendolin Kwan, RN in the emergency department at Chinese Hospital. “We want Chinese Hospital to make a commitment to not collaborate with ICE or CBP, not inquire about patients’ immigration status, and protect the rights of immigrant colleagues. So far, they have refused to make that commitment.”

“When nurses can’t take meals and rest breaks, patient care suffers,” said Jeanie Gee, RN in the medical-surgical/telemetry unit at Chinese Hospital. “Our patients deserve to be cared for by nurses who are well-rested.Well-rested nurses provide safer patient care. ”

Chinese Hospital nurses voted to join California Nurses Association in 2019 and negotiated their first contract in 2021. Chinese Hospital nurses engaged in a one-day strike in 2021.

California Nurses Association represents around 100 nurses at Chinese Hospital.

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