The short-staffed and exhausted safety net hospital workers demand answers on how the Kern County Hospital Authority overpaid the firm employing hospital administrators by $23 million and why it cannot provide an explanation or why there’s no investigation.
Click here to view the recording of the press conference.
Click here to view a video of workers protesting and chanting.
Bakersfield, CA – Kern Medical nurses and healthcare workers have complained for several years about patient safety problems at Kern Medical, submitting hundreds of regulatory filings and an anonymous whistleblower email to top hospital management.
Most recently, Emergency Department workers and two separate surgical departments (3C wing and 3D wing) workers collectively penned and submitted separate written complaints to top hospital administrators on the poor staffing levels impacting patient care. Excessively long wait times for emergency room patients caused by staff shortages were forcing nurses to draw blood, administer medication, perform procedures, and discharge patients in waiting areas, practices that put patients at risk.
Management’s response: a photocopied fact sheet from hospital management blaming problems on a nationwide nursing shortage and canned statements from executives saying the hospital’s hands are tied because of budget problems.
Now, a report by the union details how Kern County Hospital Authority (KCHA) failed to disclose, failed to correct, and attempted to conceal from the public that they overpaid contractual amounts from 40% to 150% to Meridian Healthcare Partners and Cantu Management Group, two firms that provide executive services to the public hospital system.
Following the protest in the early morning, over a dozen hospital workers attended the KCHA meeting on April 19th, and over 5 Kern Medical workers provided public comment. KCHA Board of Governors to date has not publicly committed to exercising their fiduciary responsibility to review and explain publicly the overbilling and its impact on staffing levels and patient safety at Kern Medical.
70% of patients at Kern Medical Center are Medical recipients and the safety net hospital is the only level II trauma center between Los Angeles and Fresno.
Remarks from the press conference.
“I’m serving on several union committees that meet with management for wages and working conditions. When we propose livable and competitive wages for us workers, the reaction from the administrators and human resources has always been ‘That wage increase is too big of a jump for that job,’ or ‘We can’t justify that wage increase.’ But on the other hand, our union’s report released today states that $23 million dollars of overpayment goes unquestioned by KCHA and attempts to conceal it from the public. Those two realities don’t match up and for the taxpayer’s sake, we need answers now.”– Robin Heber, Certified Surgical Technician, Kern Medical and SEIU 521 member.
“The sad thing is we were understaffed, and we could have provided immediate critical care and attention [for this patient in crisis], which would have avoided taking [him] to ICU. The patient was eventually stabilized but this could have been prevented if we were staffed adequately.” – Nydia Madera Obideo, Patient Care Technician, Kern Medical and SEIU 521 member
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Service Employees International Union, Local 521 represents 53,000 public- and nonprofit, private-sector workers in California’s Bay Area, the Central Coast, and in the Central Valley. Under a Community First vision, we are committed to making sure the needs of our community, and the vital services we provide our community, come first. We believe our communities thrive when residents, leaders and workers recognize that we are all in this together when it comes to our safety, health, and well-being.
