NURSES ARE SOUNDING THE ALARM on staffing shortages at Santa Clara County hospitals that they say are causing delays in patient care.
Nurses rallied at county hospitals Tuesday to protest furloughs and dangerous staffing shortages stemming from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which slashed funding for vital services including Medi-Cal and food stamps. Dozens of local nurses have been furloughed across Regional Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, O’Connor Hospital and St. Louise Regional Hospital over the past few months.
Nurses rallying at Regional Medical Center called for the county to end the hiring freeze and ensure hospitals are staffed appropriately. More than six dozen nurses and organizers chanted “Short staffing’s gotta go!” while waving signs that read, “You can’t access acuity from behind a desk” and “Care for those who care for you.”
@sanjosespotlight Nurses gathered at Regional Medical Center and other Santa Clara County hospitals on Tuesday to protest furloughs and dangerous staffing shortages due to President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which slashed funding for vital services including Medi-Cal. Read more at SanJoseSpotlight.com. ♬ original sound – San JosĂ© Spotlight
“Currently, we have lack of security, lack of staffing that is affecting patient care and is jeopardizing the safety of the patients these nurses care for each and every day,” Henry Soria, a representative for the Registered Nurses Professional Association, said at the rally.
A spokesperson for Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, the county’s hospital system, said furloughs are made when staffing levels exceed patient demand and the county is doing everything it can to preserve vital services.
Santa Clara County hit hard by federal cuts
Santa Clara County faces tough budget decisions as it’s set to lose more than $1 billion a year due to Trump’s bill. Medi-Cal represented roughly $1.9 billion in funding received by Santa Clara County last fiscal year. The county receives that money through reimbursements for patient care at its four county hospitals and multiple clinics.
Last fiscal year, the county spent more than $6 billion on its health care system, or half of its $12 billion budget. This year, it’s expected to spend more than $7 billion on its hospitals.
Even though Santa Clara County voters in November passed Measure A to increase sales taxes in an effort to help fund health care services, the estimated $330 million in expected annual revenue only covers a fraction of what is lost from federal cuts.
Santa Clara County’s public hospital system is California’s second largest, with its hospitals already routinely reaching capacity, dragging out wait times for care and appointments.
Resident Ed Solis knows how important the hospitals’ lifesaving services are. Two years ago he had a heart attack while driving on the freeway from San Jose to Gilroy. He drove to St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy — South County’s only hospital — where the emergency room was packed. Since the hospital didn’t have a catheter team, they transported him to O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, where nurses attended to him and offered him reassurance.
“I knew I was going to live because I was in the right hands,” Solis said at the rally. “Going through that experience made me appreciate not only being alive and living, but appreciating the job that those nurses do day in and day out.”
Nurses previously told San José Spotlight furloughs have caused ICU patients to wait in the emergency room at St. Louise for 12 to 24 hours, with many nurses not taking their breaks. They said there have also been furloughs at O’Connor Hospital’s ICU, the neonatal intensive care units at Regional Medical Center and Valley Medical Center and the labor and delivery unit and newborn care at Regional, among other units.
Supervisors urged to act
Allan Kamara, vice president of the Registered Nurses Professional Association, said there are more than 200 unfilled medical positions across the county due to the hiring freeze.
“We’re pleading to the community to ask the Board of Supervisors to encourage the nursing administration to release those positions,” Kamara said at the rally. “Those positions will help our nurses get their break relief, their meal breaks. They will be able to get support. They will have resources at the bedside.”
“We are in a moment where our health care system is under real strain. … Supporting our nurses and supporting the county are not opposing ideas.”
Darcy Green, executive director of Latinas Contra Cancer
Darcy Green, executive director of Latinas Contra Cancer, said supporting nurses and staffing hospitals is paramount to maintaining the trust patients have in the county’s health care system.
“We are in a moment where our health care system is under real strain, and county leaders, health care administrators and public servants are facing complex and difficult choices,” Green said at the rally. “They are not easy decisions, and they are being made in a landscape shaped by uncertainty, rising need and limited resources … Supporting our nurses and supporting the county are not opposing ideas.”
Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or @joyce_speaks on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.