Press releases

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RNs to Protest Appointment of Kaiser CEO Halvorson to First 5 CA Children’s Commission

Decision to close vital Hayward pediatric unit shows his inability to act in best interests of children. Registered nurses from throughout Kaiser Permanente will protest the appointment of Kaiser CEO George Halvorson to the First 5 California Children and Families Commission in the public comment period of the Commission’s meeting Thursday, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United announced today. The nurses cite the controversial decision by Halvorson to close the pediatrics unit at Kaiser Hayward for children in need of hospitalization as one example of his unworthiness to safeguard the welfare of the state’s young population. The unit serves more than 1,000 families a year and covers 100,000 children in the Tri-City area who receive healthcare from Kaiser Permanente.

July 25, 2013

RNs, Caregivers Blast Priorities at Palomar Health District

Registered Nurses and other caregivers have taken a vote of “no confidence” in the management of the Palomar and Pomerado hospitals and are calling on the Palomar Health District to act immediately to change course from a path of closures and cuts while giving huge cash and contract awards to chief executive officer Michael Covert and other executives. In just concluded voting by 1,345 hospital employees, 94 percent of Palomar Health RNs and ancillary workers said they have no confidence or trust in the district’s executive leadership, 96 percent said the district had exhibited poor fiscal responsibility, 95 percent said the executive leadership had failed to share the financial pain inflicted on other employees, and 90 percent pledged to take a more active role in fighting to save the district “for our patients, our community and our families.”

California Nurses Association
July 18, 2013

Berkeley City Council Endorses Call to Hold Sutter Alta Bates Accountable on Charity Care

City’s Second Largest Employer a Tax Drain on Community. The Berkeley, CA. City Council Tuesday night voted nearly unanimously to call on the city’s second largest employer, Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center to fulfill its charity care obligation in exchange for the substantial public financing they receive through their tax exempt status. Alta Bates Summit with two campuses in Berkeley, is seen as a prime example of a hospital that receives government subsidies as a result of its tax-exempt status that are far beyond what it provides in charity care – a growing problem throughout California.

California Nurses Association
July 17, 2013

Marquette RNs speak out for Medicaid expansion

MARQUETTE – Registered nurses from the Michigan Nurses Association shared their concerns for the health and wellbeing of Michigan citizens in front of the Old City Hall today. The nurses held signs that showed the number of uninsured in several Upper Peninsula counties that would be eligible for medical coverage once the Medicaid expansion bill passes.

Michigan Nurses Association
July 16, 2013

Federal Judge Rules MedStar Washington Hospital Center Unlawfully Reduced Nurses’ Health Benefits

WASHINGTON, DC-- National Nurses United (NNU) today applauded a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon that MedStar Washington Hospital Center violated its nurses’ collective bargaining agreement when it unlawfully and unilaterally instituted sweeping reductions in the nurses’ health benefits.

National Nurses United
July 16, 2013

Sutter’s New Electronic System Causes Serious Disruptions to Safe Patient Care at E. Bay Hospitals

Introduction of a new electronic medical records system at Sutter corporation East Bay hospitals has produced multiple problems with safe care delivery that has put patients at risk, charged the California Nurses Association today. Problems with technology are not unique to health care – pilots of the ill fated Asiana airline that tragically crashed at San Francisco International Airport July 6 told federal investigators that an automatic throttle failed to keep the jetliner at the proper speed for landing, the Los Angeles Times reported July 9.

California Nurses Association
July 11, 2013

Delay in passing Medicaid expansion means more health problems for Michigan citizens

LANSING – Registered nurses from the Michigan Nurses Association shared their concerns for the health and wellbeing of Michigan citizens from the Capitol steps today. The nurses spoke to an audience of Medicaid program users, Democratic state senators, union members and representatives from other professional associations.

Michigan Nurses Association
July 3, 2013

Huge Federal Sanction for Affinity (Oh) Medical Center

A federal Administrative Law Judge has issued a scathing ruling against Affinity Medical Center of Massillon, Oh. finding the hospital guilty of multiple violations of federal labor law in refusing to recognize and bargain with its registered nurses, terminating a long term Affinity RN for union activity, and illegally threatening other RNs for advocating for patient safety.

National Nurses Organizing Committee-Ohio/NNU
July 2, 2013

CHEU Caregivers Union

Children's Hospital RNs, Caregivers Join Together to Protest Drastic Cuts in Healthcare Tuesday

OAKLAND- Children's Hospital and Research Center registered nurses and caregivers will support their coworkers, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), in an informational picket Tuesday.

July 1, 2013

• CHEU

Children’s Hospital RNs, Caregivers Join Together to Protest Drastic Cuts in Healthcare Tuesday

OAKLAND- Children's Hospital and Research Center registered nurses and caregivers will support their coworkers, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), in an informational picket Tuesday. Key issues prompting the protest include severe cuts in healthcare for workers and their families, maintaining the rights of all unions to support one another in contract negotiations, and opposition to a "management’s rights” clause which will significantly decrease workers' collective rights and voice in advocating for safe patient care.

July 1, 2013