Nearly 2,400 Kaiser Permanente mental health professionals went on strike Monday, demanding better pay and increased staffing.
Psychiatric counselor Natalie Espinoza told KNX News’ Emily Valdez the staff is forced to see too many patients – sometimes up to 16 in one day – leaving them with no time for administrative work or even bathroom breaks.
“My own mental health has declined, and it's hard to be able to provide mental health services for our patients when we're not even able to take care of ourselves,” Espinoza said.
Kaiser workers said the turnover rate is very high because people don’t want to work in such a stressful environment. Psychiatric social worker Elizabeth White said they’ve been “driven to a degree of anger that we’re on an open-ended strike.”
The National Union of Healthcare Workers’ contract with Kaiser expired on Sept. 30. In a statement, Kaiser officials accused the union of “slow-walking the negotiation process” with the intent of going on strike.
“We want to be with our patients, not on a picket line, but we can't keep working in a system that treats mental health care like an assembly line job and denies us the time and resources to provide the care we know our patients need,” Jessica Rentz, a Kaiser therapist in Fontana, said in a statement.
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Union officials said they’re seeking an agreement similar to that reached with Kaiser mental health workers in Northern California, who went on strike for 10 weeks two years ago.
The union is asking that Kaiser guarantee full-time therapists seven hours per week for patient care duties, like responding to calls and emails, developing treatment plans, communicating with social service agencies and preparing for appointments. They also want raises to put the workers on par with non-mental health care employees, who they claim earn 40% more.
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