Scores of Santa Clara County hospital and health lab workers are on strike as the county scrambles to relaunch lifesaving care at a long-depleted East San Jose hospital. Nearly 200 clinical lab scientists, microbiologists, medical laboratory technicians and other workers at county hospitals and public health labs are on strike until Thursday. The strike will affect...
San Jose congressmembers speak out against Medi-Cal cuts
Straight from the halls of Washington D.C., local representatives joined forces with Santa Clara County officials Tuesday to defend the most vulnerable against sweeping federal cuts they say could devastate California’s second-largest public health and hospital system. Reps. Sam Liccardo and Zoe Lofgren, from Districts 16 and 18 respectively, rallied alongside County Executive James Williams...
Santa Clara County hospitals threatened by Medi-Cal cuts
When it comes to Northern California’s largest public hospital system, Santa Clara County leaders fear they’re building a sandcastle at low tide. The county’s largest stream of federal money and funding source for its public hospitals will be washed away if Congress follows through on its proposed $880 billion in spending cuts to Medicaid, known...
San Jose nurses say hospital leaders undermine patient care
Santa Clara County nurses who keep oxygen flowing to people with spinal cord and brain injuries already work in a tense environment, but some fear their jobs are about to get harder. Three nurses in the acute respiratory rehabilitation unit at Valley Medical Center — who spoke to San José Spotlight under condition of anonymity...
Santa Clara County nurses reach deal on pay, worker safety
Santa Clara County’s public hospital nurses have reached a deal with management after a contentious labor dispute rocked the region’s health system. More than 88% of the Registered Nurses Professional Association’s roughly 4,000 members voted this week to ratify a tentative four-year agreement that will go before the Board of Supervisors on June 4 for...
Silicon Valley deluged by health care workers’ labor fights
A wave of labor disputes is hitting Silicon Valley’s overburdened hospitals as health care workers reach their breaking point with pay and working conditions. Resident physicians working in county hospitals are protesting for higher wages in front of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (VMC) Wednesday at noon amid ongoing contract negotiations. Union officials said the...
Editorial: State should step in to save San Jose trauma center
Four months. That’s all the time Santa Clara County officials have to try and prevent a health care crisis in its public hospital system when Regional Medical Center shuts down its trauma center. By August, the only remaining trauma centers in the county will be at Stanford University Medical Center and Santa Clara Valley Medical...
Santa Clara County nurses threaten a second walkout
Thousands of nurses across Santa Clara County’s strained and overburdened public hospital system may go on strike again — just weeks after taking to the picket line. Contract negotiations between county management and leaders with the Registered Nurses Professional Association have stalled, with a Thursday bargaining session lasting just 17 minutes. A looming $250 million...
Santa Clara County nurses set to strike over working conditions
More than 3,000 Santa Clara County nurses are at an an impasse with county officials and are headed to the picket lines over pay increases and workplace conditions. The Registered Nurses Professional Association plans to strike from April 2-4, with members saying they’re struggling to live in the county, facing violence from patients and opposed...