Registered nurses at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Berkeley and Oakland are following in their University of California medical centers' colleagues' footsteps by emphatically rejecting a Sutter Health proposal for an invasive wellness program. The program is fraught with problems of confidentiality and carries financial penalties for non-participations. This is one of the issues that drove RNs at several of the 13 Sutter health hospitals to overwhelmingly vote for a second two-day strike, which will begin at 7:00 a.m., on Thursday, Dec. 13.

UC was forced into giving its many unions the option of opting out of their health assessment questionnaire program after CNA/NNOC-represented RNs refused to agree to the university's 2008 health insurance plans if it included the questionnaire. "UC insists on its right to forward your questionnaire to your insurance carrier without telling you and without your permission," said James Darby, RN, who works at UCSF, and is a member of the CNA/NNOC RN bargaining team. "This shows a complete lack of respect for employee privacy."

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center RNs expressed similar concerns of confidentiality, especially in light of the fact that the questionnaire will be administered by a Sutter Health affiliate in a record number of large corporate computer breaches have occurred throughout the world.

"These are eight pages of some of the most personal and intimate questions imaginable that could play havoc with a nurse's ability to be insured," said Efren Garza, RN, who works at the Herrick campus of ABSMC in Berkeley and is a member of the RN negotiating team. "RNs, who suffer the highest rate of back injuries of any profession, do not need to also live in fear of being denied healthcare coverage."

The program would also classify nurses as low, medium, or high risk based on the results of the questionnaire. "Sutter has refused to provide the RN negotiating team with the information we need to assess whether the classifications are even reasonable or valid, said Bonnie Castillo, RN, CNA/NNOC Sutter director. " We also take issue with RNs in select risk groups being sent to non-medically trained health educators for counseling."

UC's version is marketing the questionnaire as "confidential," then insisting that once the employee fills out the questionnaire UC has the right to send the results to the employee's health plan. They are still in "Phase 1" of the questionnaire program, where the incentive to participate is a $75 gift certificate, not a $100-200 increase in monthly premiums as is the case of Sutter's Phase 2.

"This punitive program is another example of what appears to be a pattern of disrespect and harassment that this corporation has adopted towards its nurses, in contrast to the RNs who are taking an emphatic stance for improved patient care standards," said Castillo.

Last week, a memo circulated by Alta Bates Summit Medical Center's Chief Nursing Officer Viki Ardito directed managers to single out RN staff who have the "worst attitudes" for discipline, up to termination. Ardito's memo coincides with the targeting of RNs at other Sutter facilities, especially Sutter Novato and California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

Registered nurses at 13 Bay Area Sutter Health hospitals will hold their second two-day strike Thursday, Dec. 13 and, Dec. 14. Sutter has notified RNs of a four to five-day lockout at all of the hospitals except CPMC, St. Luke's, and Sutter Santa Rosa. The RNs will also continue to protest Sutter's plans to close St. Luke's hospital in San Francisco, San Leandro Hospital, and Sutter Santa Rosa.

The only negotiations scheduled are for ABSMC, which was called by the federal mediator for today. No additional negotiations are scheduled for any of the other facilities.

Among the many problems in Sutter facilities are the hospital chain's refusal to:

- Assure adherence with safe RN staffing ratios during RN meals and breaks, forcing RNs to jeopardize patients if they take breaks.

- Maintain safe lift practices to reduce serious RN back injuries and patient falls and accidents. In the November Journal of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, a Seattle safety consultant noted that "protecting the health and safety of nurses" is a critical contribution "to protecting patients."

- Respond to CNA/NNOC proposals for enhanced staffing in emergency rooms and establishment of hospital rapid response teams for increased response time for life-threatening patient emergencies.

- Guarantee that patients will only be assigned to an RN

In addition to Alta Bates Summit, the strike will affect Sutter Novato, California Pacific, and Mills-Peninsula Health Services in Burlingame and San Mateo, San Leandro Hospital, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Sutter Delta in Antioch, Sutter Solano in Vallejo, St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco, Sutter Santa Rosa, and Sutter Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, as well as members of the CNA/NNOC-affiliated Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union, representing respiratory, X-ray, and other technical workers at Alta Bates Summit.

California Nurses Association