Nurses Call on Kaiser to Improve Staffing to Protect Patients

Registered nurses who are striking Kaiser Permanente’s flagship Los Angeles hospital this week will bring their protest to the doors of Kaiser’s Southern California corporate office today.

Los Angeles Medical Center (Kaiser Permanente) strike schedule

• Seven-day strike, through March 22, 4867 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. 
• Thursday, March 17: Rally, 11 a.m. at Kaiser Southern California corporate offices, 393 E Walnut St., Pasadena
• Monday, March 21: Rally, 12:30 p.m. on strike line, 4867 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles

The RNs, members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, are in the third day of a seven-day strike seeking a contract that will improve staffing to protect patient care as well as economic gains that will promote retention of experienced RNs and boost recruitment of new nurses.

LAMC is the hub for specialty services such as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation, a procedure for high-risk patients and is the regional high-risk center for young children with cancer.  Nurses are calling on Kaiser to invest in this regional specialty center and settling a fair contract with strong patient care provisions similar to what Kaiser has previously agreed in the CNA contract for 18,000 nurses in California.

Despite making over $14.4 billion in profit over the past six years, Kaiser has frozen wages for nurses at the region’s tertiary center.