Nurses Picket St. Joe’s Citing Concerns Over Training and Technology in New Telemetry Units
Yesterday, nurses at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka held an informational picket from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in front of the hospital. According to Lesley Ester, RN and Chief Nurse Representative for the California Nurses Association, the hospital is beginning new telemetry units for cardiac patients that don’t have the technology and the trained nurses to operate safely.
Karen Gladding, a Progressive Care Nurse who has been with St. Joes for 16 years, joined a picket on Monday afternoon on Harrison Avenue. [Photo by Mark McKenna]
Mario Fernandez, a union organizer with UFCW came out to support nurses picketing in front of St. Joes on Monday. [Photo by Mark McKenna]
In the above video, Ester added, “The nurses are out there not for any gain of their own but to make sure their patients are safe.”
Christian P. Hill, spokesperson for St. Joseph Hospital sent us the following prepared statement:
We are proud of the high quality, safe and compassionate care our hospital clinical teams provide to our patients. In our continued efforts to transform health care and improve the care experience, we have developed a new care model that is patient-centric, and benefits all involved in the care continuum.
We’ve heard from patients, families, physicians and caregivers that the current model of patient transfers from the Progressive Care Unit (PCU) to the Medical Surgical Unit (Med Surg) when more intense monitoring is no longer needed, fragments care and makes communication more challenging. The changes we are implementing will address this issue. We delayed these changes from the planned date in mid-September to October 5 in order to provide additional time for discussion with CNA representatives.
It is important to note that a picket is not a strike and does not impact patient care in any way; we are fully staffed and here to care for our community.
Ginger Sotelo, retired St. Joes charge nurse on medical surgical floor 2 joined with other nurses to picket hospital administration on Monday. [Photo by Mark McKenna]
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St Joes has had problems for years. Low wages does not keep staff around. On the flip side high no pay rate and low reimbursement make it harder to pay higher wages. Most people do not ralize medicare and medical have low reimbursement and thus everyone with regular insurace has to make up the differance of that and the no pay people thus higt cost of medical care. Medicare for all would bankrupt the health care system and make healthacre a disaster.
You’re aware that every other first world nation DOES have universal healthcare, right? Its not some impossible pipe dream, it is the norm. It allows the government to negotiate and cap prices, something they are currently unable to do.
The Private Health Insurance model is purely extractive. It provides NO value at all. That’s why America has the worst outcomes at the worst prices.
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019
Universal Healthcare will never exist in this country. If you want Socialized Medicine, apply for Medi-Cal, or move to Mexico, England, or France.
Too many Corporations, and too many Church-Owned Hospitals have destroyed any chance of Socialized Medicine in the United States.
Actually Germany has mandated private health care for the most part. “As of 2009, the system is decentralized with private practice physicians providing ambulatory care, and independent, mostly non-profit hospitals providing the majority of inpatient care. Approximately 92% of the population are covered by a ‘Statutory Health Insurance’ plan, which provides a standardized level of coverage through any one of approximately 1,100 public or private sickness funds. ” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Germany
Israel and the Netherlands have universal private health care. Almost everyone has private insurance adjuncts for what publicly funded health insurance does not cover. For example Canada’s public health plan does not cover prescription drugs.
The issue is not “universal” care – the US could have that easily as already over a third of the population is already on Medicare or Medicaid- but whether the government or the individual should say what health care is available and what is not.
The disaster is the concept that people can insure their health. Salesmen and snake-oil products have made huge fortunes for the correctly positioned investors.
You can however, ensure, your health by living right and working at it every day. No union affiliation required. Don’t even need socialism.
If the SNF, Doctors and Technicians could ween themselves from the socialist platforms that pay so well, we could all have quality health professionals.
and people with disabilities, preexisting conditions, or the winning genetic numbers that give them cancer can just go to hell, right dr. gass?
No maxwell, they die.
Welcome to the merry go round.
Makes sense why hospitals would take that Covid Cash.
The reason for the high cost of medical care is “What is you life worth”. Doctors, hospitals and suppliers take advantage of that statement. I used to work where they filled oxygen bottles. They filled torch bottles and medical bottles. Seven cubic foot of medical oxygen cost the same as 330 cubic foot of torch oxygen. The difference was, the color of the bottle. In other words your life was 47 times more important that torch cutting even though the manufacturers cost was much less.
Another cluster. ….I mean protest,…
Fuck Hospitals.
They are at the core of this Covid Cancel Culture.
Our lives really aren’t that important.
Demoralizing the public has its costs.
I stand firmly with the nurses on this really very important issue! How can the hospital start the telemetry units for heart patients that lack the technology, and properly trained nurses? The administration of that hospital is a complete joke, and should all be replaced before a patients life is lost!!!
Shouldn’t have sold the county hospital to the church.
There are definite mixed feelings on this. There are nurses who literally save patients even from incompetent doctors. There are incompetent, rude and arrogant nurses and techs who are a danger to patients. Are there also personnel issues that keep these bad employees in place? It’s really hard to tell from being a patient as there are also patients who try the patience of saints. When stories like this hit the news it’s not really possible for outsiders to judge. Is this a union trying to feathered fearful employees or a life saving effort to keep patients safe? How is any member of the public to judge fairly?
I applaud Martin for being the first one to address the articles subject. Think of telemetry in terms of it just being plain old Bluetooth. Short range gets rid of wires and such, and is real handy. Like when you have the nerve center in the same damned room. Everyone must be seeing and understanding common data at the same time or the odds are high you are going to kill someone. I don’t know how these hospital folks are set up technically, but if it aint done right it aint done right, and fancy systems can be upgraded.
I would have to weigh facts and examine the point where politics meets practicality before getting behind any union. Not sayin’ I wouldn’t side with these guys, if I took a look at their system though.
Solidarity for the Nursing Staff! Nurses often are the first line for these actions, and a General Strike at St Joseph’s Eureka is very highly called for!
St Joseph’s Eureka and Fortuna are both prime examples of poor quality employment, repressive old-school hospitals wherein Doctors and Administrators make good livings while Nursing Staff, Lab Staff, XRAY and Pharmacy etc will eat a steady diet of harassment, abuse, poor compensation and awesomely bad scheduling. Terrible HR policies and low staffing in ancillary healthcare professionals is common, and management will feed you lies and harassment while Administrators get fat on Million Dollar Salaries…
Patient Safety, Staff Safety, Training and Competency and Compliance with State and Federal Law, these are all issues that St Joseph’s Eureka and Fortuna will never face, and, CARES act Cash is banked, so where is the love for the folks actually on the front lines, the LVN’s, the CNA’s, the CPT’s and the Junior Staff, the Housekeepers et al?
Nurses, stand your ground! Demand adequate and legal staffing levels, demand adequate training and competency, and, demand competitive and modern compensation for all!
Remember, if St Joseph’s refuses to operate legally and in a manner conducive to safe and adequate care, there are over 400 other hospitals in California who would be happy to have your help…
Ancillary Healthcare Professionals Stand With You!
Patient care went down the tubes when doctors were forced to join HMO’s, and that was because doctors could no longer afford individual medical mal practice insurance.
Pharma played a big role as they passed out drugs that were more dangerous that the problem they were treating, while robbing you to do it.
Medicare is a disaster with plans a thru z, meaning the wealthy get a platinum plan and the poor get the f U plan. Ever wonder why the elderly have bad teeth, need glasses, or a hearing aid?
Both medicare and medi cal if you need a denture it takes about 14 trips to the dentist and 14 months to get, and the dentist might be 50 miles away, but the socialists want you to use less gas…huh?
You get a better plan on medi cal than a poor person on medicare, but medicare is what the socialists want to put you on.
Yes in other countries more people are covered BUT need a hip replacement, OK we might get around to you in 6mos. or a year.
Why do you think so many people come here for care?
We were in a car accident and made the mistake of taking my son to St Joe’s. He had a common seat belt related intestinal perferation injury. He was vomiting profusely and in terrible pain but instead of saving the vomit and showing it to the doctor the “undertrained incompetent” nurses continued to flush it down to toilet insisting that there was no sign of internal injury and he just needed more pain meds. This went on for 3 nights until my wife put aside some of his vomit and showed the doctor when she arrived for her short daily assessment. They were both flown to Oakland children’s within 2 hours. St Joe’s had held us long enough for him to develop an infection which made his recovery at the real hospital all the more difficult. He was up to the challenge and made a full recovery under the care of the very professional and competent staff and doctors at Oakland children’s hospital. In contrast some of the nurse’s at St Joe’s were cady, mean, and unprofessional which almost led our family into a catastrophe. My wife has no medical training but had she not intervened with the nurse and doctors care plan and collected her own samples of my boys vomit to show the doctor our outcome at the hospital could have been much different. I have talked to other people in the county that have had similar experience. The level of incompetence at this hospital is dangerous and i would feel reckless and irrisponsible taking anyone I cared about to this facility.
^ so the takeaway from this unfortunate event was if you want better health care facilities, move to a big city .
Whether you like it not, that might be the plan for all county loving folk.
🕯🕊RIP Eddie Van Halen died at 65 of cancer. 🛐🛐
Fuck Cancer
This will not improve care for anyone. They are already not communicating with families. I know first hand. Cardiac patients need bedside and nurses station technology and trained staff. This is about making staff do more with less resources and improving the bottom line and admin bonuses and Providence investment portfolio.
The C suite is robbing the hospital blind. The management is so bad they keep losing staff and have to rely on travel nurses and even they don’t want to come back. Eventually they won’t have enough staff to take care of the community. St Joe’s and Providence should be ashamed for choosing money over community patient care.