National Union of Healthcare Workers now represents workers at every Northern California Providence hospital, Says NUHW

NUHW representatives hold banners with others in front of St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka in 2019. [Photo by Ryan Hutson]

The National Union of Healthcare Workers now represents workers at every Providence hospital in Northern California, following a vote by nearly 200 workers at Providence’s Healdsburg Hospital in Sonoma County to join the union.

Workers at the 43-bed hospital, including registered nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, and medical technicians, voted overwhelmingly to join NUHW in a union election last week. Providence purchased the hospital in 2021, one of three it owns in Sonoma County.

“We’re excited to join our fellow NUHW members at the bargaining table and work together on a contract that secures market rate pay, improves patient care, and safeguards medical care in our community,” said Debra Lehnhard, a registered nurse at the hospital. “As the only non-union hospital in the region, we have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to our wages and retirement benefits.”

Providence, the nation’s fifth-largest nonprofit hospital system, emerged as a major operator in Northern California with its 2016 takeover of St. Joseph Health, giving it control over a majority of acute care beds in Sonoma, Napa, and Humboldt counties.

Overall, Providence now owns six hospitals in Northern California, all of which now have members represented by NUHW: Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Petaluma Valley Hospital, and Healdsburg Hospital in Sonoma County; Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa; and Redwood Memorial Hospital and St. Joseph Eureka in Humboldt County. Providence also operates two home health and hospice agencies in Sonoma County, both of which are represented by NUHW.

NUHW now has more than 2,500 Providence members in Northern California and an additional 1,800 members in Southern California, where it recently organized workers at Providence Torrance and Providence San Pedro hospitals following a major contract victory at Providence Tarzana.

Currently all NUHW members at Providence facilities in Northern California are at the bargaining table, seeking to secure wages that are in line with competitors such as Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente, as well as protection from service reductions.

Although Providence has $7.8 billion in financial reserves and a $150 million venture capital arm, it has laid off workers and sharply reduced available medical services in Northern California. Since 2020, Providence has closed its outpatient labs in all three counties, closed birthing centers in Humboldt and Sonoma counties, shuttered the only acute rehab unit in Humboldt County, and closed two urgent care clinics in Sonoma County.

“Union power is growing across the Providence system in California, and our members are determined to use their strength to win fair wages, secure safe staffing levels, and keep medical services in their communities,” NUHW President Sophia Mendoza said. “Our newest members at Healdsburg worked hard to win their union, and they’re going to join us in winning groundbreaking contracts across Northern California.”