RECENT HEALTH CARE STRIKES

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center: Hundreds of nurses staged a three-day walkout at the Colton hospital and other sites in San Bernardino County Dec. 9-11. Negotiations have resumed.

Riverside Community Hospital: Nurses staged an informational protest in front of the facility in mid-December, saying they were working in unsafe conditions with a high patient-to-nurse ratio. Negotiations were expected to resume this month.

Dozens of protesters marched against Kaiser Permanente in Fontana on Monday, claiming the nonprofit was understaffing its mental health facilities.

The strikers were members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, who say they have too little time for patients.

Kaiser keeps piling on more work to do in a standard clinical hour. Its now to the point where instead of giving a patient a clinical hour, you give them maybe 30 minutes, said psychiatric therapist Marty Needleman, a union member on the picket line.

He said the nations new health care law has caused an influx of patients, compounding an already bad situation.

The walkout affects about 2,600 workers statewide and 250-300 workers in Inland Southern California, according to Needleman. It began at 6 a.m. and will last until 6 a.m. Jan. 19. Negotiations are on hold this week, he said.

Needleman said that 70 people were walking the picket line this morning.

Kaiser officials deny the nonprofit is failing its mental health patients and says it has increased the number of therapists in the state by 25 percent, a claim the union disputes.

Go here to read the rest:

FONTANA: Health care workers protest at Kaiser Permanente hospital