Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente opened its new San Marcos (Calif.) Medical Center on Aug. 9. The $400 million facility has 206 beds and brought 1,000 jobs to San Diego County. The health system operates two other hospitals in the San Diego service area: Zion Medical Center and San Diego Medical Center. Union nurses say some staff at those hospitals were transferred to San Marcos, putting extra pressure on existing nursing staff.
Meagan Davison, RN, a nurse at Kaiser San Diego and leader at United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, which represents about 3,000 nurses in San Diego County, told KPBS there are plans to bring on travel nurses, though staff at the hospitals want more long-term solutions.
“We need the proper resources — the proper staff — to take care of the community in San Diego and that’s what we’re asking Kaiser to do,” she said. “It’s morally distressing as registered nurses to not be able to do our job properly and not take care of people the way we want to take care of them,” Ms. Davison said.
In a statement to the news outlet, a spokesperson for Kaiser San Diego said all of its medical centers in the city are “fully staffed and meet or exceed California state mandated nurse staffing ratios.” Health system officials also pointed to Kaiser’s staff turnover rate, which they said is among the lowest in healthcare, and that Kaiser continues to invest in nurses.
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