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Mental health clinicians days away from strike

Union, Kaiser unable to reach a contract amid concerns over staffing, wait times

A dozen Kaiser Permanente workers on Maui will join others across the state on Monday for an “open-ended” strike as Kaiser and the union struggle to hammer out a contract.

According to the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents around 50 mental health clinicians for Kaiser across the state, the clinicians have not reached an agreement on a contract since the group formed a union in 2018. The union said it was created to improve working conditions and access to care, but the situation at Kaiser clinics has steadily worsened.

The union said that Kaiser’s accreditation in Hawaii is currently under “corrective action” after clinicians filed a complaint with Kaiser’s accreditation agency documenting dangerously long wait times for mental health appointments. Investigators for the National Committee for Quality Assurance concluded that the “lack of access to (behavioral health care) for Kaiser members poses a potential patient safety risk” and that “Kaiser’s prior efforts to improve access … have largely been ineffective.”

“Patients are waiting an unethically long time for care,” Rachel Kaya, a psychologist at Kaiser’s Maui Lani clinic, said in a news release. “My community deserves better and they are paying for services that Kaiser is failing to provide. If Kaiser believes there’s a staffing shortage, it should offer a fair contract that helps it recruit and retain more clinicians instead of treating us as if we’re disposable.”

Of the 12 Kaiser workers on Maui planning to strike, one is a nurse and 11 are mental health clinicians, which include psychologists, licensed clinical social workers and others, said Matthew Artz, a spokesperson for the union. Picket lines are scheduled to also go up on Oahu and Hawaii island. Colleagues in California are already on strike, the union said.

The clinicians also held a three-day strike in May after Kaiser, which they said posted an $8.1 billion net profit last year, rejected multiple proposals to increase staffing and improve patient access.

In a statement, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii said: “It is disappointing that the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) has again called on our dedicated and compassionate mental health professionals to walk away from the patients in Hawaii at a time when the need for mental health care is so critical. We continue to focus on providing high-quality care and urge the union to work with us through the bargaining process to finalize a new agreement.”

Kaiser said it is negotiating an initial contract for the clinicians and continues to bargain “in good faith and are committed to reaching a fair and equitable agreement.”

It added that strikes are a tactic the union has used every time it has bargained for a contract with Kaiser Permanente over the past 12 years of its existence.

Kaiser also apologized for any inconvenience the strike may cause and said if appointment or service changes are required, it will contact any affected patients.

“We take any potential disruption of services very seriously and have plans to ensure our members and patients continue to receive safe, high-quality care,” Kaiser said.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

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