NorCal Therapist Strike Halted; Tentative Agreement Reached: Reports

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Kaiser Permanente and the National union of Healthcare workers struck an agreement early Tuesday morning, halting a 10-week strike by mental health therapists across Northern California, according to multiple reports.

Clinicians demanded that Kaiser Permanente increase staffing as therapists and psychologist continue to struggle under heavy workloads and burnout months after a pandemic that raised the demand for mental health care.

"The new 4-year agreement will benefit Kaiser Permanente patients and drive collaborative efforts aimed at improving access to mental health care, while at the same time recognizing and better supporting mental health therapists in their important work," the National Union of Healthcare Workers wrote in a statement, ABC7 reported.

A two-day ratification vote was set to take place Tuesday evening. More details were set to be released after the the vote.

Workers in Northern California and the Central Valley went on strike Aug. 15. Leaders of the National Union of Healthcare Workers said Sunday the final tally was 1,349 to 222 to reject the latest contract offer.

"We presented Kaiser officials detailed proposals to increase staffing and improve access to care in the first negotiating session 14 months ago, and we won't accept a contract that ignores those issues," Ilana Marcucci-Morris, a Kaiser therapist and a member of the union's bargaining team.

A Kaiser spokesperson told Bay City News that 60 percent of the company's therapists have chosen to work through the strike.

Mental health professionals have cited wait times spanning weeks or months for patients to book an appointment. Swaths of psychologists, therapists, chemical dependency counselors and social workers went on strike to demand the health care giant hire more workers.

"Patients are getting ripped off while Kaiser’s coffers are bulging," Sal Rosselli, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, said ahead of the strike. "We don’t take striking lightly but it’s time to take a stand and make Kaiser spend some of its billions on mental health care."

A large increase in people reporting mental health problems after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered disruptions within the healthcare industry — especially in the nation's most populous state.

This is not the first time mental health workers of Kaiser Permanente have announced plans to strike. In November of last year, 2,000 mental health workers were able to avoid a one day strike after unions reached an agreement with the health care giant.

This year, therapists have many of the same complaints.

Deb Catsavas, senior Vice President at Kaiser Permanente, told CalMatters that the threat of a strike is "sadly, a bargaining tactic this union has used every time it has bargained a new contract."

Lawmakers have had their eyes on the conglomerate in recent years amid a deficient amount of mental health resources for patients, the union said. Kaiser has reportedly been fined by state regulators, sued by local prosecutors and is facing a state investigation after a rise in patient complaints last year.

In May, the California Department of Managed Health Careannounced that it would launch an investigation into whether the company was providing adequate mental health care services to its 9.4 million Californians.

Kaiser has been criticized for its mental health services in recent years, especially after the onset of the pandemic, which triggered an influx of those seeking appointments.

The prevalence of anxiety or depression increased 25 percent during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study conducted by the World Health Organization.

Last year, a survey conducted by the NUHW found that 87 percent of mental health workers said that weekly individual psychotherapy appointments are unavailable for patients who need them.

In 2021, the healthcare company argued that it was trying to meet the shortage of mental health clinicians and is aggressively hiring mental health specialists, hired more than 600 therapists in California between 2016 and 2020, and continued actively to recruit more. In addition, Kaiser said it has invested some $30 million to train new mental health clinicians statewide.

This year, conditions have worsened for patients of Kaiser Permanente, workers have said.

“Right now we’re at a crisis point,” Sarah Soroken, a Kaiser therapist, told CalMatters. “Things are worse than ever.”

She said the pandemic intensified an already unstable situation, where more patients sought care as therapists continued to leave the company.

“We’re serving a strike notice because our patients aren’t receiving needed services.” said Shay Loftus, a psychologist in Kaiser’s Napa/Solano region. “We’re not willing to be part of a system that disrespects the work we do and prevents us from providing ethical care. Kaiser has no excuse to continue treating mental health care as a separate and unequal service, and we’re going to keep striking until that changes.”

READ MORE:

Kaiser Mental Health Workers Strike In 5th Week

Striking Therapists Reject Kaiser's Latest Contract Offer

Kaiser Responds After Striking Therapists Reject Latest Contract Offer

NorCal Kaiser Permanente Workers Poised To Announce Indefinite Strike

Bay City News contributed to this report.