Nurses to Hold Informational Picket Against Staffing Cuts at Dominican Hospital

Staff Cuts at Dominican Hospital Spark Nurse-Led Picket

In Santa Cruz, California, nurses at Dominican Hospital are organizing an informational picket on Tuesday, June 30. This initiative aims to draw community attention to staffing reductions proposed by CommonSpirit Health, which, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), could endanger patient safety and weaken the quality of care.

CommonSpirit Health issued layoff notifications on June 1 to over 20 hospital employees, including key roles such as:

• Nearly all nurse educators, who are vital for ensuring clinical competence, ongoing nurse training, and overseeing the provision of safe and evidence-based medical care.
• Unit coordinators, who facilitate communication, patient flow, and handle essential administrative functions, thereby allowing nurses to focus on bedside care.
• Monitor technicians, responsible for the continuous observation of cardiac telemetry, often detecting life-threatening conditions that require immediate action.

Nurses assert that these staffing cuts could lead to increased risks of communication breakdowns, delayed care, preventable errors, and poorer patient outcomes.

Erin Johnson, RN from the interventional radiology unit, stated: “We who work at Dominican hospital are devoted to ensuring the highest quality of care for our Santa Cruz County community. Unfortunately, it appears the decision-makers at CommonSpirit care much more about the bottom line than the patients they serve, and their actions are a clear indication of that. We are calling on CommonSpirit to rescind the layoff notices of our valuable staff members and work with us to create an optimal healing environment for our patients.”

Event Details:

What: Informational picket to demand no cuts and safe staffing

When: Tuesday, June 30, 1–5 p.m.

Where: Dominican Hospital, 1555 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz, CA 95065

Patients have already been affected by chronic understaffing issues, resulting in emergency department waits of up to five hours and delays in transferring patients to higher-acuity units like telemetry and ICU. Nurses have been tasked with caring for patients with increasingly complex needs without adequate staffing. Over the past year, they have also assumed roles typically filled by patient care technicians, further straining their ability to deliver optimal care.

Crystal Crafton, RN, and chief nurse representative commented: “Dominican Hospital has continuously failed to adequately staff our units while asking nurses to do more with less. These cuts place additional burdens on frontline caregivers and remove critical support systems that help keep patients safe. Short staffing is not safe for our patients and is unfair to our nurses, and is harmful to our community. Administration must stop these cuts and invest in safe patient care.”

Despite nurses' proposals to improve staffing and boost efficiency, the hospital has not adequately addressed their recommendations. Over the past decade, federal statistics reveal a decline in nursing hours per patient at Dominican Hospital, alongside a 29% rise in life-threatening cases in the emergency department since 2014. Yet, staffing levels have not increased to meet these demands.

CommonSpirit Health reportedly has the resources to tackle these challenges. Tax filings indicate that from 2020 to 2024, the top 10 executives at CommonSpirit received over $310.5 million. The CEO's compensation package for the fiscal year 2025 was valued at more than $14 million.

CNA/NNU represents 700 registered nurses at Dominican Hospital. NNOC/NNU (including CNA) collectively represents over 17,000 nurses at 33 CommonSpirit Health facilities nationwide.

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California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.

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