RNs protest layoffs at California hospitals, warn of compromised care

RNs Warn Against Potential Impact on Patient Care Due to Staffing Reductions

Registered nurses are set to convene for a press conference and rally at California Hospital Medical Center (CHMC) in Los Angeles on Monday, August 3, to express concerns over CommonSpirit Health’s planned layoffs across 17 California hospitals. The nurses argue that these staffing cuts could endanger patient care and negatively impact local communities. Most of the registered nurses at CommonSpirit Health locations in California are represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU).

Layoff notices have been dispatched to more than 175 health care employees at CommonSpirit facilities throughout the state, from Long Beach to Mount Shasta. At CHMC, where staffing is already an issue, 82 job cuts have been proposed, including the entire pediatric nursing staff. The majority of the layoffs involve ancillary staff roles such as patient transporters, physical and occupational therapy aides, telemetry technicians, unit assistants, clerks, and unit secretaries. Nurses, including those specializing in education, wound care, and pediatrics, have also been affected. The reduction in ancillary staff means that nurses will have to allocate more time to administrative work, thereby reducing bedside care.

“CommonSpirit says they are committed to ‘compassion and caring’ and ‘building healthier communities,’ but these cuts are in direct opposition to their mission,” stated CNA President Sandy Reding, RN at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. “CommonSpirit is putting profits before patients. As one of the biggest nonprofit Catholic health care systems, they can afford to invest in health care staffing.”

Who: CommonSpirit Health registered nurses

What: Press Conference and rally to protest CommonSpirit layoffs

When: Monday, August 3, 2026, 8–9 a.m.

Where: California Hospital Medical Center, 1401 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, Calif., in front of the hospital entrance

“Nurses depend on ancillary staff to meet the needs of our patients,” commented Rachel Gutierrez, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit at CHMC. “These layoffs will mean nurses have to take time away from the direct care needs of our patients, because CommonSpirit will also expect us to do the tasks of the ancillary staff they’re laying off, like answering phones and opening restricted doors to let visitors in.”

“CommonSpirit has no plan for who will do the work of our essential ancillary staff, except to add it to nurses’ workload when we are already stretched thin,” noted Phil Penn, RN in the intensive care unit at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach. “Patient care will suffer and nurses won’t have time to care for our patients.”

“Patients will not get timely care when hospitals cut nurses and other health care staff because someone still needs to do the work,” explained Genevieve Bottum, RN in the medical telemetry unit at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento. “If we no longer have unit secretaries or support staff, nurses may be forced to do that work. The result is delays in patient care, which is unacceptable.”

“Nurse educators ensure that nurses maintain their clinical competencies and have the appropriate training and education to give our patients safe, evidence-based care,” said Jennifer Powers, RN in the medical-surgical unit at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz. “Nurses are always learning because we work in a field where there are always new medical techniques and technologies. It doesn’t make sense to cut this critical role.”

“We are speaking out about these layoffs because we care about our patients and our communities,” expressed Erin Connor, RN in the telemetry unit at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale. “We know that cuts negatively affect patients’ care.”

Since June, when the layoffs were announced, nurses at CHMC have organized an informational picket on June 29, while Dominican Hospital nurses in Santa Cruz protested the proposed cuts on June 30. Additionally, nurses in Bakersfield held a picket on July 16.

The CNA represents nurses at numerous facilities across California, including Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, and others. CNA/National Nurses Organizing Committee, part of National Nurses United, represents over 17,000 nurses at 33 CommonSpirit Health locations nationwide. CommonSpirit has issued layoff notices to both nurses and support staff at several sites in California.

The 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 over 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.

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