Fremont Patients, Public Health Endangered By Kaiser Cutbacks In Urgent Services

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 14 Jul 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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TUESDAY: Dozens of Registered Nurses to March on Kaiser Permanente-Fremont to Protest Effort to Slash Urgent Care

Citing grave risks to the care they are able to provide to their patients, dozens of RNs from Kaiser-Fremont will march on the facility this Tuesday July 14th to protest a new effort to cut urgent-care resources at the facility. The nurses will demand Kaiser continue offering these services and cancel any proposed cutbacks.

What: Nurses Picket Kaiser-Fremont Over Loss of Urgent Care Services
Where: Kaiser Fremont, 39401 Civic Center Drive, Fremont
When: Tuesday, July 14, 12 noon to 1:00 p.m.

The nurses charge that Kaiser's decision to slash the hours, access, and capacity of their urgent care center will negatively impact patients by shuffling them into an already-overcrowded emergency room, and will cause financial hardship through the higher schedule of co-pays for care in the ER.

"Cutting back urgent care hours and services is the latest step by Kaiser to cut corners on patient care," said Robert Marth, an RN at Kaiser. "Kaiser is forcing people into the emergency room, despite the fact that they'll pay more to receive care in what may not be the appropriate setting. Kaiser is a profitable and well-funded system and our patients deserve better than these ongoing reductions in patient care."

"Urgent care services at Kaiser Fremont are important to our community and should not be cut," added Bob Weickowski, a member of the Fremont City Council.

Kaiser recently announced that its profits from the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year are up 72 percent over last year-jumping from $250 million to $432 million-making clear that they have the resources to maintain urgent-care services.

Source
California Nurses Association