
Tanya Moreland has worked as a registered nurse for 27 years, 22 of them at Marian Medical Center, and she says she has seen the quality of patient care decline because of a low ratio of nurses to patients. Moreland joined a group of about 75 other Marian nurses Thursday night to picket with signs in front of the hospital as part of a statewide effort to publicize the California Nurses Association's dissatisfaction with the progress of contract bargaining with Catholic Healthcare West. “We wanted to bring that forward (to the public), so they're aware of what's going on,” Moreland said.
The union planned demonstrations at 20 Catholic Healthcare West hospitals across the state Thursday, according to the California Nurses Association. Locally, pickets were held between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria and French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo. Registered nurses from Arroyo Grande Community Hospital joined the picketing as well.
The deteriorating conditions at Marian Medical Center have been at their worst, Moreland said, in the roughly 10 years since Catholic Healthcare West took over ownership.
Picketers said that support poured in, in the form of honks from passing vehicles, and they particularly enjoyed the feedback from an engine of Guadalupe firefighters and a construction crew.
Catholic Healthcare West pointed out in a written statement that the pickets at Marian Medical Center, French Hospital Medical Center and Arroyo Grande Community Hospital did not mean that workers were striking.
“During this time, the delivery of patient care will not be affected in any way,” the Catholic Healthcare West statement said.
“We are confident the negotiations will result in a contract that is mutually acceptable,” CHW added.
CHW's Central Coast hospitals will continue a strong, positive relationship with its employees, the statement said.
“We have the most competent, well-trained, highly skilled nurses and healthcare workers in the area,” CHW said. “We appreciate the hard work of our nurses in continuing to provide the highest quality care for our patients and communities.”
Bargaining for a new agreement began in April, and the union is dissatisfied with a lack of progress, according to the California Nurses Association. The hospital chain and the union are bargaining for a new contract covering nine hospitals in Southern California, CHW said.
Three years ago, the nurses at the nine hospitals organized as a single bargaining unit, and the contract now being negotiated is the first one for that bargaining unit, according to Catholic Healthcare West.
Affected nurses have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if their contract is not resolved soon, said the nurses association.
The California Nurses Association claimed that Catholic Healthcare West has refused to guarantee sufficient nurse-patient ratios, has proposed major health benefit “takeaways” and has offered a non-competitive retiree health plan.
The association also alleged that CHW is trying to lay the groundwork to sell hospitals and turn a quick profit by refusing to ensure that nurses will be protected by their California Nurses Association contracts if a sale occurs.
Kevin Baker, a Sacramento-based labor representative from the union, said that registered nurses on the Central Coast earn an average of $10 less per hour than the next highest-paid nurses who work for Catholic Healthcare West elsewhere in California.
Baker said that more than 98 percent of affected nurses on the Central Coast have voted to authorize a strike if the bargaining team decides to do so.
“Today was just like a dress rehearsal,” he said Thursday.
“We really want to bring attention to the public ... because the public is the patient, and that's who the nurses are there for.”
Baker said that if a strike took place, involved hospitals would be notified 10 days beforehand and teams of nurses would be ready to work if needed.
(lompocrecord.com)