Kaiser Permanente's Mental Health Care Crisis: A Growing Concern

Glendale, Calif– In the first negotiating session since October, Kaiser Permanente failed to present any new proposals aimed at reaching an agreement to end the strike by its nearly 2,400 Southern California mental health therapists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and psychologists that is now in its 13th week.

More than 100 striking workers sat across the bargaining table from Kaiser representatives in Glendale Thursday, but no progress was made as Kaiser negotiators sought concessions from the union even though Kaiser had requested the negotiating session.

No additional sessions have been scheduled.

“As a Kaiser therapist, it often feels like I have two jobs: treating patients and advocating for them in Kaiser’s understaffed, inadequate mental health care system,” said Kassaundra Gutierrez-Thompson, a Kaiser therapist based in Los Angeles. “Kaiser’s behavior today and throughout our negotiations is a stark reminder that even now at a moment of intense collective trauma, Kaiser executives still do not value the work that we do or the people we serve.”

Kaiser mental health professionals throughout California have worked for more than a decadeto force the HMO to address severe understaffing that leads to inadequate care and illegally long wait times for therapy appointments for its 4.8 million members from San Diego to Bakersfield. In 2021, their union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, sponsoredSB 221,which requires health plans to provide medically necessary follow-up therapy appointments within 10 business days –and.

Kaiser hasstill not produced a state-approved Corrective Action Planto address deficiencies in its mental health services, including illegal appointment delays, cited in two state investigations that resulted in a$50 million finein 2023.

While workers have made compromises on several provisions of their next contract — including additional movement during Thursday’s session — they remain resolute on three key areas that are critical to addressing severe understaffing and improving patient care.

Securing the same guaranteed seven hours per week that their counterparts in Northern California get to perform critical patient care duties that can’t be done during appointments. Kaiser is only proposing to guarantee them four hours per week, which is far below industry standards. The lack of time to respond to patient calls and emails, prepare for appointments and devise treatment plans is a major reason why therapists leave Kaiser, contributing to the HMO’s chronic understaffing ssues.The same pensions that nearly all Kaiser employees receive, but which Kaiser eliminated for Southern California mental health professionals hired after 2014. More than 70 percent of Kaiser mental health professionals in Southern California do not have a pension, and Kaiser data shows that they are twice as likely to leave Kaiser.Wage increases that make up for several years when Kaiser denied them the cost-of-living raises that nearly all other employees received.

“We desperately want to be with our patients, so it’s disheartening for Kaiser to waste our time by inviting us back to the bargaining table without any new proposals that could help end the strike,” said Lisa Carroll, a medical social worker in San Diego and bargaining team member. “They want us to move off our core demands, but all we’re seeking is to be treated the same as other Kaiser workers, so our services are adequately staffed and our patients can get the care they need. We’ve seen the harm that Kaiser’s disregard for mental health care inflicts on patients, and we are still determined to make things better.”

The only picket line on Friday will be outside the Kaiser Riverside Medical Center, 10800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside. Picket lines scheduled for Panorama City and Los Angeles were cancelled to allow strikers to volunteer in fire relief efforts.

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The National Union of Healthcare Workers is a member-led movement that represents 19,000 healthcare workers in California and Hawai’i, including more than 4,700 Kaiser mental health professionals.

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