Striking Nurses, Community, Political Leaders Hold Candlelight Vigil Wednesday to Save San Leandro Hospital

Striking nurses and their community supporters will hold a candlelight vigil this Wednesday at 6:00 pm to save San Leandro Hospital, a community institution that the Sutter Health chain is attempting to close. 
 
The potential closure, which threatens public health for much of the East Bay,  is a key reason for the ten-day strike by  4,000 RNs at ten Bay Area Sutter hospitals.  The strike also involves issues of patient care, including systemic endangerment of patients by understaffing.  The strike has been marked by over 95 percent nurse participation and deep community support.

What:  Community and Political Leaders Join Striking Nurses at Candlelight Vigil for San Leandro

When: 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 26

Where: San Leandro Hospital, 13855 East 14th, San Leandro, CA

“If Sutter Health closes San Leandro, where will our patients go?  What will they do?  This hospital is a vital healthcare resource for many, many  people, and we will not turn our backs on them,” said Vicky Mendoza-Reid, an RN for 28 years at the facility. 

Some 4,000 registered nurses at ten Bay Area facilities began a ten-day strike against Sutter Health on Friday over serious problems with patient care, medical redlining, and healthcare for nurses, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee reports.   RNs will walk the picket line through Sunday, March 30.   A full schedule is below.

Thousands of RNs have struck Sutter facilities twice already, though this is the first ten-day strike.  The key reason for the walkouts is the pattern of patient safety risks caused by Sutter’s refusal to schedule RNs to care for patients when nurses are on legally-mandated meal or rest breaks.  Such scheduling gaps leave patients unattended and at risk for sentinel events.  Nurses are also concerned over Sutter’s practice of medical redlining by closing hospitals in medically underserved areas (St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco and  San Leandro Hospital), and their refusal to agree to fair settlements on issues of healthcare and retiree healthcare and pensions. 

“Sutter cannot expect RNs to sit idly by and watch the ongoing problems with patient care and patient safety at our hospitals.  When there are not enough nurses, patients are put at risk, period.  We don’t want to strike, but our ethical obligation as patient advocates demands it,” added Sharon Tobin, an RN at Mills-Peninsula Health Services.

Following is a general schedule, with media events underlined; details sent out daily:

• Monday March 24 through Sunday March 30, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Picketing at all facilities, noon rallies at all facilities.
• Sunday, March 30, 12 Noon: Major  rally at CPMC with elected officials
• Monday March 31, 7 a.m.—Nurses return to work

Sutter Hospitals Affected
Sutter hospitals affected are St. Luke’s Hospital and California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, San Leandro Hospital, Alta Bates-Summit Medical Center in Berkeley and Oakland, Mills-Peninsula Health Services in Burlingame and San Mateo, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Sutter Delta in Antioch, and Sutter Solano in Vallejo.