Registered nurses will be striking in San Ramon, Manteca, Modesto, Turlock, Palm Springs, and Joshua Tree

California registered nurses at six Tenet hospitals will hold one-day strikes on Thursday, Oct. 30, to protest the multibillion-dollar hospital corporation’s refusal to address nurses’ deep concerns about patient care and safe staffing, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU). The 3,100 Tenet nurses, represented by CNA, have been in contract negotiations since February, with little to no movement on key issues.

The nurses are slated to strike at the following Tenet hospitals: San Ramon Medical Center (San Ramon); Doctors Hospital Manteca (Manteca); Doctors Medical Center (Modesto); Emanuel Medical Center ( Turlock); Desert Regional Medical Center (Palm Springs); and Hi-Desert Medical Center (Joshua Tree).

For a list of all the strike locations, the times for rallies, and on-the-ground contacts, please click here.

“It’s clear to the nurses that Tenet is prioritizing profits over patients,” said Joeton Labos, an ICU nurse at San Ramon Medical Center in San Ramon. “We continue to lose experienced nurses to other area hospitals, which jeopardizes our ability to provide safe patient care. We will do everything in our power to fight for our patients, and that includes going out on strike!“

At Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, nurses say Tenet is jeopardizing care for the most vulnerable of patients, the fragile newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital was granted a waiver only for emergency situations, which allows the hospital to cut staffing below the state-mandated safe patient ratios in the unit. However, the hospital is using the waiver on a continual basis, even sending nurses home, creating conditions that threaten the care of these very sick newborns.

“Tenet is jeopardizing patient care for the most vulnerable newborns in our hospital,” said Deb Edwards, a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Desert Regional Medical Center. “We demand safe staffing for our precious babies and that Tenet live up to its stated values of ‘acting with integrity and the highest ethical standards, always.’”

Nurses delivered a 10-day notice of their strike to Tenet on Oct. 20 to allow management to make alternative plans for patient care. The nurses had voted unanimously to authorize a strike during the week of Sept. 8.

Tenet RNs are urging management to invest in nursing staff and the communities served by its hospitals by agreeing to standards that ensure the highest quality of patient care: 

• Guaranteed meal- and rest-break coverage. Most nurses work 12-hour shifts and need time to eat and regroup so they can be present for all their patients.
• Improvements to recruitment and retention of experienced nurses. Experienced nurses are critical to safe patient care and serve as mentors to newer nurses.
• Lift teams to help with turning and lifting patients. Dedicated staff for the recurring task of lifting patients helps reduce injury to patients and nurses.
• Safe staffing at all times. When there are not adequate nurses and ancillary staff on a unit, patient care is delayed, which can lead to harm for our patients.

Tenet recently garnered national attention for how its failures to invest in adequate nursing staff and resources in its hospitals fuel moral injury and distress while putting patient care in jeopardy. Lorena Burkett, a nurse at Tenet’s Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, recently recounted to KFF Health News, one of the nation's leading health care outlets, how understaffing undermines her ability to provide the optimal care for her patients.

Tenet was highlighted in 2023’s Dirty Dozen report by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, which found that Tenet cuts corners on patient and worker safety and retaliates against those who speak out about safety issues.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation is a multibillion-dollar health care company. Last year, Tenet made $4.1 billion in profits, a jump from $1.3 billion in 2023. The CEO, Saum Sutaria, is the highest-paid health care CEO in the country. Sutaria took home more than $24 million in 2024.

CNA represents 3,100 nurses at six Tenet hospitals in California.

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.