Hospital staffers and union organizers waved signs and banners in protest over staffing shortages at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Roseville on Oct. 14, 2021. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters
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Labor advocates are calling it “Striketober.”
As weary health care workers across California enter the 19th month of the pandemic, thousands are walking off the job and onto the picket line, demanding more staffing.
The strikes and rallies threaten to cripple hospital operations that have been inundated by the COVID-19 Delta surge as well as patients seeking long-delayed care.
More than two dozen hospitals across the state — including some Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health facilities and USC Keck Medicine — have experienced strikes by engineers, janitorial staff, respiratory therapists, nurses, midwives, physical therapists and technicians over the past four months.
This week, nearly a third of all California hospitals reported “critical staffing shortages” to the federal government, with more predicting shortages in the coming week. Hospitals are unable to meet the state’s required staff-to-patient ratios for nurses or schedule adequate numbers of other critical personnel.
The reason for the shortages? Record patient volumes at the same time that many workers have been driven away from the bedside by burnout, early retirement and the seemingly unending stress of the pandemic.
SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West estimates that about 10% of its members — close to 10,000 people — have retired, left the profession, or taken extended leaves of absence during the pandemic.
“What’s really important is that 10% doesn’t turn into 15%, does not turn into 20%. There’s not enough temporary staff out there to fix what’s going on,” said Dave Regan, president of SEIU-UHW.
The shortages are an untenable scenario, unions say — one that has persisted for many years brought to a boiling point by the pandemic.
Since the pandemic began, union grievances with hospitals are increasingly about inadequate staffing, although bargaining over pay remains a key issue.
Money matters when it comes to holding onto workers, they say, especially because temporary staff brought on for pandemic response often make more than regular employees. In some instances, traveling nurses have been paid $10,000 per week at California hospitals with severe staffing needs.
“You’re paying exorbitant amounts for travelers while the existing workforce makes exactly the same amount (as before the pandemic),” Regan said.
Striking to “stop the bleeding”
Early in the pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced efforts to expand the health care workforce through a volunteer health corps. Although tens of thousands signed up, most people didn’t have the necessary medical skills, and only 14 volunteers worked out.
The California Department of Public Health also signed a $500 million contract to help hospitals pay for emergency health care workers like traveling nurses. That contract expired in June.
Unions say those efforts are a Band-aid on a larger problem. Instead, they say policymakers should get hospitals to try harder to retain their current employees.
“Right now, hospitals, the health industry, the state of California, you need to do a lot more so that it doesn’t get worse,” Regan said. “We’re doing very little as a state to support this workforce that has been under a really unique set of pressures.”
In an early attempt to stop the churn, SEIU-UHW sponsored a bill that would have provided hazard pay retention bonuses to health workers. Opposed by the hospital association. the bill died after a third reading in the Assembly and did not make it to the Senate.
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance who introduced the bill, said the hospitals’ claims that they couldn’t afford hazard pay were unfounded since they received billions in federal pandemic funds, some “specifically earmarked for hazard pay and bonuses for frontline workers.”
“The state made a decision that they were not going to provide financial incentives to recognize and retain healthcare workers, and we think that’s shortsighted,” Regan said.
Over the summer, hundreds of nurses at hospitals, including USC’s Keck Medicine, San Francisco’s Chinese Hospital and Riverside Community Hospital, staged strikes over inadequate staffing and safety concerns.
Now more than 700 hospital engineers employed by Kaiser Permanente facilities in Northern California have been striking for four weeks, demanding higher wages.
In Antioch, more than 350 workers at Sutter Delta ended a week-long strike over inadequate staffing Friday but have yet to reach a contract agreement with their employer.
In the Victor Valley and Roseville, hundreds of workers staged recent rallies and vigils to highlight what they’re calling a “worker crisis.” Advocates say their upcoming schedules are packed with pickets planned in solidarity with other unions.
“We’re doing very little as a state to support this workforce that has been under a really unique set of pressures.” — Dave Regan, SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West
And perhaps the strongest flexing of union muscle has come in Southern California, where members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, or UNAC/UHCP, voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike against Kaiser Permanente if negotiations remain at a standstill. Should a strike materialize in the coming weeks, more than 24,000 members would walk out of the health care giant’s medical centers and clinics in more than a dozen cities.
Although the dollars and cents of bargaining vary from union to union, the common thread is clear: They want employers to “stop the bleeding” of health care workers fleeing the profession and invest more in recruiting and retaining staff.
The union found 72% of its members — which includes nurses, occupational and physical therapists, midwives and other medical staff — were struggling with anxiety and burnout, and between 42-45% reported depression and insomnia. About 74% said staffing was a primary concern.
How hospitals are responding to shortages
Hospitals say it is not as easy as hiring more employees. With so many people leaving the workforce, there aren’t enough candidates to fill the gap. Even support staff like janitors, cafeteria workers, clerks and assistants are in short supply.
“There is no question there is a shortage of health care workforce. We have far fewer people in the workforce today than we did when the pandemic started,” said Jan Emerson-Shea, spokesperson for the California Hospital Association.
Many hospitals have offered employees shift bonuses, child care subsidies and temporary housing to keep them from spreading the virus to family members while keeping them at patients’ bedside. But it hasn’t been enough.
“I don’t know that it’s anybody’s first choice, but we are in a situation where we have to rely on the travelers (traveling nurses),” Emerson-Shea said. “Hospitals would much rather have their permanent staff, but in this situation, with as long as it has been and the workforce dynamics so complex, we need both.”
“We have far fewer people in the workforce today than we did when the pandemic started.” — Jan Emerson-Shea, California Hospital Association
The state hospital association has asked state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly to assist hospitals with workforce concerns in part by reinstating funding for traveling workers and making it easier for hospitals to get exemptions from the state’s strict nurse-to-patient ratios. In a written response, Ghaly said the state would continue helping designated surge hospitals pay for extra staff and was working to expedite nursing ratio waivers for heavily impacted regions.
“There’s no resolution yet, but the conversations are occurring, which is important because we are not through the pandemic,” Emerson-Shea said.
Like many industries, hospitals rely on historic averages to predict the need for employees. The average number of patients in a given time period determines how many employees will be scheduled each day. The problem, workers say, is that using the average means frequently they are working with minimal staff.
“There needs to be a massive paradigm shift of how hospitals treat clinicians, and that’s less just-in-time staffing and less just-in-time supplies,” said Gerard Brogan, director of nursing practice at the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United.
Peter Sidhu, a former intensive care nurse at the Kaiser Woodland Hills Medical Center, said the union has filed staffing grievances each year for the past seven years. During the pandemic, the strain has gotten worse. Woodland Hills Medical Center is one of the facilities that may be affected by a strike.
“Between the first surge and second surge, we had several months where there was zero planning. There were no new grad programs, there was no new hiring,” Sidhu said.
“So going into that second surge, which was really bad here in California, we knew we were in trouble,” Sidhu said. With adequate staffing prior to the pandemic and efforts to increase staff levels in between surges, workers would not have burned out so rapidly, he contends.
Bargaining over salaries and benefits between Kaiser and Alliance of Health Care Unions, which includes the Southern California group UNAC/UHCP, stalled at the end of September after five months. The strike authorization is the first of its kind for UNAC/UHCP in the past 26 years, and members say long-standing staffing issues and burnout contributed to employee dissatisfaction.
“The vote to authorize a strike by union members is disappointing, especially because our members and communities are continuing to face the challenges of the ongoing pandemic,” Arlene Peasnall, Kaiser’s senior vice president of human resources, said in a statement. “In the event of any kind of work stoppage, our facilities will be staffed by our physicians along with trained and experienced managers and contingency staff.”
‘Burnout can only be getting worse’
In a recent study by the UC San Francisco Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care, the number of nurses aged 55 to 64 planning on quitting or retiring in the next two years jumped nearly 14% between 2018 and 2020, setting up the field for a five-year shortage.
Joanne Spetz, the center’s associate director of research and lead study author, said new graduates before the pandemic sometimes struggled to find employment while employers frequently complained about not being able to find enough experienced nurses to hire. But the overall number of nurses in the workforce was enough then.
Now, with nurses reducing their hours or quitting, the state is in a more tenuous position. About 7% fewer nurses reported working full-time in 2020 compared to 2018, and sharp declines in employment were seen among nurses 55 years and older, according to the study.
“We’re looking at having a shortage in the short term,” she said. “The wild card is, with the pandemic lasting this long, burnout can only be getting worse. What if we have a bunch of 30 to 35 year-old nurses who say ‘screw this,’ then we’re losing a lot of years of working life from these nurses.”
“One day you walk in and your unit is full, and two days later you walk in and a large portion of those patients have passed away.” — Peter Sidhu, former intensive care nurse
Sidhu is one of those experienced nurses who found himself reeling from the dual forces of COVID-19’s brutal emotional toll and short staffing.
He had volunteered to work with the first COVID-19 patient that arrived at his ICU in March 2020. That first patient quickly turned into dozens each day, with many dying.
“One day you walk in and your unit is full, and two days later you walk in and a large portion of those patients have passed away. You’re double-stacking body bags,” Sidhu said.
He struggled with anxiety, anger and insomnia before his shifts, knowing there would be more patients than nurses could care for, and that they would have no time for breaks. He said he was told that under the state’s temporary emergency waiver of nurse-to-patient ratios he would have to take on more patients.
A year into the pandemic, Sidhu called it quits and now works as the union’s treasurer. Of the eight members in his original ICU nursing team, only two remain working, he said.
“I’m 42, and I was planning on working at the bedside until I turn 60,” Sidhu said. “And then after COVID, I said ‘I am done.’ I was super-done.”
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CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
Willy Morrow passed away suddenly at home at the age of 65. He was a logger before he retired. After retirement he had so many interests and was able to do all of them, there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do.
His interests ranged from painting to computers. He enjoyed cooking and always had something going in the kitchen. He loved music. He was self taught on guitar, and played for hours always teaching himself something new. He enjoyed riding bikes and recently got a recumbent bike which he loved. He was so proud of his family and loved hanging out with all of them.
He is survived by his loving wife Ronda Morrow, of 45 years;his son Chad and Jenny Morrow and daughter Candice and Scott Lackey; grandkids Hope and Jordan Caylor, Kelsey and Levi Fulton, Garret and Lily Lackey, Ashlynn and Connor Lorenzen and Kaitlynn Lackey; his great-grandkids Lane and Colby Caylor, Ryleigh Fulton and Baby Paige on the way.
We aren’t saying goodbye but see you later.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Willy Morrow’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
A Eureka man accused of opening fire in a McKinleyville bar, seriously injuring a bar patron, pleaded not guilty today to charges of attempted murder and assault with a firearm.
O’Brien.
Attorney Kathleen Bryson entered the pleas today on behalf of Sean Timothy O’Brien, who was brought to court in a wheelchair and wearing a red jumpsuit, meaning he is segregated from the jail’s general population.
O’Brien is a former jail correctional officer who was fired in 2013 after he allegedly kicked a sleeping inmate, knocking the man out of his bed. He had worked at Humboldt County Correctional Facility for five years.
On Sept. 27 O’Brien allegedly entered Central Station bar and shot Ethan S. Jacobs with a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson. O’Brien, 54, was detained and apparently attacked by other bar patrons. He was flown to a hospital out of the area and at one point was listed in critical condition.
Jacobs, 49, was treated for gunshot injuries to his arm.
O’Brien was arrested on a warrant yesterday at his Eureka home.
After consulting privately with Bryson today, O’Brien agreed to give up his right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days of his arraignment. Judge Larry Killoran set his preliminary hearing for Dec. 5.
In addition to the attempted murder and assault charges, O’Brien faces the special allegations of personally and intentionally discharging a firearm and causing great bodily injury.
O’Brien’s bail amount was not discussed today. He is being held on bail of $1 million.
Deputy District Attorney Jane Mackie was in court today for the prosecution.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has recently received reports of a phone scam targeting local PC 290 Registrants.
As part of this scam, the caller claims they are from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and tells the victim that due to “new laws”, they are now out of compliance with current PC 290 registration requirements. The scammer tells the victim that they must purchase a pre-paid debit card and make a payment over the phone to come into compliance, or face arrest.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like the community to know that this is a scam. The HCSO does not charge fees for PC 290 Registration. While law enforcement may contact you regarding a warrant or investigation, we will never demand payment in exchange for dropping a warrant or stopping an investigation. Additionally, no government agency will ask you to mail large sums of cash or pay with gift cards or pre-paid money cards.
Remember these tips to help protect yourself from fraud:
1. Spot imposters
Scammers often pretend to be someone you trust, like a government official, a family member, a charity or a company with which you do business. Don’t send money or give out personal information in response to an unexpected request – whether it comes as a text, a phone call or an email.
2. Do online searches
Type a company or product name into your favorite search engine with words like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” Or search for a phrase that describes your situation, like “IRS call.” You can even search for phone numbers to see if other people have reported them as scams.
3. Don’t believe your caller ID
Technology makes it easy for scammers to fake caller ID information, so the name and number you see aren’t always real. If someone calls asking for money or personal information, hang up. If you think the caller might be telling the truth, call back to a number you know is genuine.
4. Talk to someone
Before you give up your money or personal information, talk to someone you trust. Con artists want you to make decisions in a hurry. They might even threaten you. Slow down, check out the story, do an online search, consult an expert — or just tell a friend.
5. Don’t rely on personal information
Living in the digital age, access to information is easier than ever. Scammers are often able to get their hands on very personal information, providing it to their victims to make their scam look more legitimate. Don’t trust a scammer who is able to provide your personal information. If you followed the above tips and still aren’t sure, call back at a publicly listed number for the organization from which the scammer claims to be or contact your loved one directly.
Sign up for the Federal Trade Commission’s scam alerts at ftc.gov/scams.
With California’s cannabis market crashing due to oversupply — and local growers feeling particular pain — the County of Humboldt is making its third attempt in the past two years to recruit an entity to market and promote Humboldt County weed.
The marketing effort will be funded via a 60 percent cut of the budget for Project Trellis, the county’s cannabis industry support initiative, which is financed with local weed tax revenues.
When the county issued its first request for marketing proposals, back in November 2019, it garnered more than 20 applications from a variety of firms. However, that process, like so much else, fell apart during the COVID pandemic.
The county tried again last May, issuing a new request for proposals (RFP) and this time limiting applicants to local nonprofits.
In response, the county received just a single application. It came from the Humboldt Community Business Development Center (HCBCD), a tax-exempt charitable organization affiliated with the better-known Humboldt County Growers Alliance. The HCGA, led by Executive Director Natalynne DeLapp, is a member-based industry group representing local cannabis professionals.
Seems simple enough, right? If only one applicant comes forward, they get the gig. Not so fast. At some point in the process the county started receiving calls and inquiries — including feedback from the Southern Humboldt Business and Visitors Bureau (SHBVB) — suggesting that HCBDC/HCGA had been given an unfair advantage.
See, last year, HCGA was hired by the county to develop a cannabis marketing assessment, and it did so, producing a lengthy analysis and series of recommendations designed to serve as a blueprint of sorts for branding and promoting Humboldt County cannabis.
Scott Adair, the county’s economic development director, said his department has since used that documentas a framework to help shape what a marketing initiative might look like.
Some observers of the process, including the SoHum Bureau, questioned whether there was a potential conflict of interest at play — or at least the appearance of one. These critics said it seemed as if the county’s request for proposals was written explicitly for the HCGA and its affiliated business development agency. Or, at the very least, that those groups had a distinct advantage.
After consulting with California Fair Political Practices Commission and discussing the matter with the county’s lead attorney, Adair and his staff decided to start the whole process over once again.
In a recent phone conversation with the Outpost, Adair said that while HCBDC and HCGA are separate entities with their own boards of directors and tax ID numbers, there is some overlap between them. DeLapp serves as executive director of both, for example.
“So county counsel advised us — just to make it very clean and transparent and to protect all parties and avoid even an appearance of a conflict of interest — to scrap the RFP,” Adair said.
The county rejected HCBDC’s marketing proposal and, in a press release issued this morning, announced a new request for proposals — with a few key differences from the last go-round.
For one thing, for-profit companies are allowed to apply this time. Adair said that in Humboldt County there’s “not a sufficient number of nonprofits that are resourced and staffed well enough to apply, so [in the previous process] we excluded many otherwise qualified proposers.”
Applicants do have to be based in Humboldt County, though. And Adair said the new RFP has some “enhanced language” addressing conflicts of interest.
The closing date for this latest RFP is November 22 — just a month and a week away.
“We’re eager to move this forward as quickly as possible,” Adair said. “We know how dire some of the market conditions are right now and how that’s affecting cultivators.”
In a statement provided to the Outpost, DeLapp said, “HCGA and HCBDC are working with the County and the FPPC to determine if a legitimate conflict of interest exists. We look forward to putting these questions to bed once and for all. And then to be able to resubmit our vision for how to serve our community’s interest.”
Several calls to the SHBVB did not go through — we got an “all circuits are busy” message. We also sent an email to the organization but did not hear back before the time of publication.
Here’s the county’s latest request for proposals:
For many decades, the cannabis industry has been a significant economic driver in Humboldt County. As cannabis emerges as a statewide industry, the county is looking at ways to maintain a competitive advantage to preserve and strengthen the regional brand.
To achieve this goal, the county is issuing a new Request For Proposals (RFP), seeking a qualified local entity to work with staff on developing a marketing strategy for a distinct national and industry “branding initiative” for Humboldt County-grown cannabis along with local cannabis-related products and services.
The selected applicant will serve as the county’s lead contracted agency for cannabis marketing initiatives and will provide a broad range of professional marketing services, including promoting Humboldt County cannabis as a unique, high-quality product. The applicant will utilize and employ specific recommendations and findings of the Humboldt County Marketing Assessment. This marketing RFP and the services that will be provided are one of three programs of the county’s Project Trellis, a broad-reaching initiative aimed at supporting the local cannabis industry.
How to apply: Refer to RFP for full application instructions. Electronic submissions must be sent to ProjectTrellis@co.humboldt.ca.us and received no later than 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2021.
Proposals may be subject to public disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act.
About Project Trellis: Project Trellis is a three-tiered program that was developed to support cannabis businesses and individuals involved in Humboldt County’s cannabis industry. The program’s three levels of support include a Cannabis Business Micro-grant program, a Local Equity Program and a Humboldt County Cannabis Branding,
Marketing and Promotion Program. The Micro-grant program provides cannabis businesses an opportunity to apply for funding to cover business related expenditures. The Local Equity program provides resources to local communities and individuals who have been impacted by the War on Drugs. The Marketing and Promotion component is designed to promote and maintain Humboldt grown cannabis as a national and industry brand.
For more information, visit the Project Trellis Marketing Program or call Peggy Murphy, Economic Development Specialist, at 707-599-0125.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) located 11 environmental violations and removed one active water diversion from the Eel River this week during the service of search warrants in Southern Humboldt County.
On Oct. 13, 2021, MET deputies served four search warrants to investigate illegal cannabis cultivation in the Alderpoint area. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Humboldt County Code Enforcement assisted in the service of the warrants.
Four parcels were investigated during the service of the warrant. The parcels did not possess the required county permit and state license to cultivate cannabis commercially.
During the service of the warrants, deputies eradicated approximately 3,406 growing cannabis plants. Deputies seized and destroyed over 242 pounds of processed cannabis, 291 pounds of cannabis shake and 61 pounds of cannabis bud.
Illegally cultivated cannabis | HCSO
Assisting agencies found the following violations:
Six water diversion/obstruction violations (up to $8,000 fine per day, per violation)
Three water pollution violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation)
Two depositing trash in or near a waterway violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation)
Additional violations with civil fines are expected to be filed by the assisting agencies.
No arrests were made during the service of the warrant. The case will be forwarded to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
A Eureka man has been taken into custody for attempted murder following the investigation into a shooting at a McKinleyville bar on September 27.
On Oct. 13, 2021, at about 3:36 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 54-year-old Sean Timothy O’Brien at his home in Eureka.
O’Brien was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of attempted murder (PC 664/187), discharge of a firearm (PC 12022.53(c)), assault with a firearm on a person (PC 245(a)(2)) and causing great bodily injury in commission of a felony (PC 12022.7(a)). His bail has been set at $1 million.
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
