NURSES AT ST. ROSE HOSPITAL in Hayward picketed Thursday afternoon as contract negotiations stalled with the hospital’s operator, Alameda Health System.
Protesters demanded the healthcare provider do more to address workplace violence and staffing challenges.
Nurses also believe plans to subcontract the hospital’s fifth floor to Stanford Medicine could decrease the quality of care for non-Stanford patients. Alameda Health System officials, however, said their hands are tied because of funding shortages.
The protesters were members of the California Nurses Association, a union that has been in ongoing negotiations with hospital management since January. According to nurse and bargaining team member Amanda Saad, discussions reached a standstill last month.
Among the union’s key demands are increasing security staff and installing metal detectors. According to Saad, nurses have faced increasing incidents of workplace violence, and these issues have been impacting nurses’ ability to do their jobs.
“Nurse conditions have a direct impact on the quality of care we provide,” Saad said.
Picketers are also worried about staff recruitment and retention, including the departure of experienced team members. Many nurses stay for the community, “but that’s not realistic for everybody,” said picketer Ariel Martinez.
To stop the brain drain, Martinez and Saad said that they have demanded fairer wages and compensation, including an economic package that hasn’t yet received a response from hospital management.
A third concern is that plans to subcontract the hospital’s fifth floor to Stanford Medicine could create healthcare inequities. According to Martinez and Saad, the fifth floor mostly has single rooms, some of which have historically been given to patients at the end of life. “If the fifth floor was reserved for Stanford patients only, only specific patients would be able to get the nice fifth floor with the private room,” Martinez said.
Alameda Health System, on the other hand, said that it has been hampered by financial challenges, including funding reductions and delays in receiving a federal grant. According to Alameda Health System representative Victoria Balladares, collaborating with Stanford “preserves jobs and supports St. Rose’s financial longevity and sustainability.”
“Characterizations that this collaboration between Stanford and St. Rose would create ‘two tiers’ of care are inaccurate,” Balladares wrote in a statement.
The protest was held from 2 to 4 p.m. at St. Rose Hospital, at 27200 Calaroga Ave. The safety-net hospital is the only one in Hayward.
