Nurses and caregivers at Palomar Health in Escondido, Calif. will hold an informational picket on Thursday, Oct. 10 to demand management improve staffing levels, commit to the needs of the community, and address the dire need for the recruitment and retention of experienced nurses and caregivers.

Registered nurses at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister, California, are opposed to Measure X, a ballot measure that would eliminate the public’s ownership, control, and oversight over the hospital by selling it to newly formed subsidiary, Insight Health of America, a private Michigan-based company. Hazel Hawkins is currently publicly owned and governed by the San Benito County Health Care District Board of Directors.

Nurses say Tenet has not invested in staffing or maintaining the facility, resulting in chronic understaffing, inoperable elevators, sewage leaks, and vermin infestations.

National Nurses United has welcomed its newly seated Council of Presidents to their offices for the 2024-2027 term. The new leaders were seated at NNU’s 15th Anniversary Convention in September, which commemorated the visionary union leadership of nurses and NNU’s foundation in 2009.