Kaiser Permanente Canceling Bay Area Appointments As Strike Looms

Written by BEA KARNES and AUTUMN JOHNSON:

Patients receiving mental health treatment through Kaiser Permanente are receiving phone calls canceling appointments because of an impending ‘work stoppage.’

More than 1,400 mental health workers for one of the largest health care providers in Northern California are walking off the job Monday, Nov. 16.

The National Union of Healthcare Workers says it called the strike because of two reasons: understaffing and retaliation against whistle-blowers.

Patch has reached out to Kaiser for a response but we’ve not heard back. The health care giant told the Vallejo Times-Herald that the union’s charges are intended to deflect attention from what they say is strictly a money issue.

“The union knows this strike will be very hard for Kaiser Permanente patients, given the shortage of mental health therapists in the community. That is why it is so indefensible for the NUHW to be calling on its therapists to walk away from their patients,” senior vice president of Human Resources Gay Westfall told the Times-Herald.

The strike is expected to affect nearly 80 facilities.

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