Members of the California Nurses Association began a two-day strike June 22 at AHMC Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Calif., according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The union, which represents 300 nurses at Seton, issued a 10-day strike notice to the hospital on June 12. The strike marks the second such action this year. The nurses also went on strike in March.
"We don't want to be on strike. We want to be in there for our patients, but we want AHMC to be able to provide us with what we need," Cathy Evans, RN, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Contract negotiations have been ongoing since December. During negotiations, the union has described what it calls "chronic" material supply issues and contends hospital officials have not adequately addressed the number of experienced nurses leaving Seton, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The union has also cited the closure of hospital units — including the May closure of the geriatric psychiatric unit because of seismic repairs — as part of the reasoning behind the strike.
The hospital disagrees with the union and contends the strike puts patients and the community at risk and slows the hospital's long-term financial recovery.
"We are deeply disappointed that leaders of the California Nurses Association will put our patients and our community at risk — again — with their call for a strike despite receiving fair compensation, staffing stabilization and rejecting a more-than-fair offer," Seton Administrator Sarkis Vartanian, BSN, said in a June 22 news release shared with Becker's.
Seton has been recovering financially since the hospital was saved from closing in 2020. Since then, Seton has been working to make the hospital financially viable, which includes undertaking a $60 million seismic retrofit of the hospital as well as hiring 189 new staff members, 75 of whom are registered nurses, according to the release.
Seton said the hospital temporarily has closed floors to accommodate construction.