Decision to close vital Hayward pediatric unit shows his inability to act in best interests of children. Registered nurses from throughout Kaiser Permanente will protest the appointment of Kaiser CEO George Halvorson to the First 5 California Children and Families Commission in the public comment period of the Commission’s meeting Thursday, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United announced today. The nurses cite the controversial decision by Halvorson to close the pediatrics unit at Kaiser Hayward for children in need of hospitalization as one example of his unworthiness to safeguard the welfare of the state’s young population. The unit serves more than 1,000 families a year and covers 100,000 children in the Tri-City area who receive healthcare from Kaiser Permanente.

Registered Nurses and other caregivers have taken a vote of “no confidence” in the management of the Palomar and Pomerado hospitals and are calling on the Palomar Health District to act immediately to change course from a path of closures and cuts while giving huge cash and contract awards to chief executive officer Michael Covert and other executives. In just concluded voting by 1,345 hospital employees, 94 percent of Palomar Health RNs and ancillary workers said they have no confidence or trust in the district’s executive leadership, 96 percent said the district had exhibited poor fiscal responsibility, 95 percent said the executive leadership had failed to share the financial pain inflicted on other employees, and 90 percent pledged to take a more active role in fighting to save the district “for our patients, our community and our families.”

City’s Second Largest Employer a Tax Drain on Community. The Berkeley, CA. City Council Tuesday night voted nearly unanimously to call on the city’s second largest employer, Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center to fulfill its charity care obligation in exchange for the substantial public financing they receive through their tax exempt status. Alta Bates Summit with two campuses in Berkeley, is seen as a prime example of a hospital that receives government subsidies as a result of its tax-exempt status that are far beyond what it provides in charity care – a growing problem throughout California.

MARQUETTE – Registered nurses from the Michigan Nurses Association shared their concerns for the health and wellbeing of Michigan citizens in front of the Old City Hall today. The nurses held signs that showed the number of uninsured in several Upper Peninsula counties that would be eligible for medical coverage once the Medicaid expansion bill passes.