Kaiser MH workers file complaint with state as strike enters 5th week

Abstract

Mental health therapists and nurses at California‐based Kaiser Permanente in their fifth week of striking for improved working conditions have called on state regulators to prevent the health care provider from using temporary replacement workers, which they claim could postpone patient care during the strike (See “Kaiser MH clinicians may strike over lack of patient care,” MHW, Aug. 8, 2022; https://doi.org/10.1002/mhw.33329). The National Union of Health‐care Workers filed a complaint with the state's Department of Managed Health Care on behalf of the striking employees on Sept. 9, arguing that Kaiser planned to temporarily hire unqualified licensed vocational nurses during the strike, CBS Bay Area reported Sept. 13. Current state law requires health care providers to offer a follow‐up mental health therapy session within 10 business days of an initial session unless a licensed therapist determines that a longer wait time between sessions would not harm the patient. Kaiser's temporary workers, according to the complaint, would be tasked with determining whether patients require a follow‐up therapy session within 10 days of their initial session. The workers’ union argued that doing so would violate state law.