Kaiser Permanente's Inadequate Mental Health Strike Contingency Plan

Kaiser Permanente's Strike Contingency Plan Criticized as Insufficient

Workers Continue Strike Action Across Southern California

Glendale, Calif. – Kaiser Permanente is facing criticism over its state-required contingency strategy for maintaining mental health services during an ongoing strike by its behavioral health staff. Critics argue the plan lacks crucial details for ensuring care to its 4.8 million members in Southern California, stretching from San Diego to Bakersfield.

The three-page document submitted to the California Department of Managed Health Care fails to specify the extent of replacement services needed or the number of external workers available to fulfill these roles. The core of the plan is just over one page long, accompanied by a single-page introduction.

Furthermore, the plan is described as incomplete. The final sentence of the document states that Kaiser anticipates updating the plan with more current information during the week of October 21st. However, no amendments have been filed as of last week.

This Southern California plan offers significantly less detail compared to a similar plan Kaiser filed during a 10-week strike by mental health therapists in Northern California two years ago, which resulted in Kaiser being cited by state regulators for canceling 111,803 appointments.

Sal Rosselli, president emeritus of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, remarked, “This isn’t a plan, it’s a recipe for mass appointment cancellations, just like what we saw in Northern California. More than 2,000 workers are striking and Kaiser patients are not being seen as the law requires.”

Legally, Kaiser must provide timely and appropriate care for necessary behavioral health services during a strike. If in-network care cannot be replaced internally, Kaiser is required to arrange out-of-network services.

Rosselli emphasized, “Spelling out in detail exactly how Kaiser plans to meet its obligations to provide mental health care during a strike is the entire point of the strike contingency plan, yet Kaiser’s plan completely fails to satisfy that objective.”

Picket Line Details

Picket Lines Schedule: Starting at 8 a.m., workers will maintain their presence until 2 p.m. on weekdays.

Monday Picketing Locations:

• Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC), 4867 W. Sunset Blvd.
• San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
• Fontana Medical Center, 9961 Sierra Ave., Fontana
• Anaheim Medical Center, 3440 East La Palma Ave., Anaheim

Tuesday Picketing Locations:

• Riverside Medical Center, 10800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside
• Woodland Hills Medical Center, 5601 De Soto Ave., Woodland Hills
• Kaiser Permanente Alton/Sand Canyon Medical Offices, 6650 Alton Parkway, Irvine
• Baldwin Park Medical Center, 1011 Baldwin Park Blvd., Baldwin Park

A rally featuring community and elected leaders will be held at all strike locations during lunch. For a comprehensive list of picket lines and times for the initial two weeks of the strike, click here. Additional details about the strike are available here.

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The National Union of Healthcare Workers represents 19,000 healthcare professionals in California and Hawai’i, including over 4,700 Kaiser mental health experts.