Kaiser Permanente celebrated the opening of its third hospital in San Diego County, located in San Marcos, on August 9th, 2023. However, celebrations have been tempered by concerns raised by nurses and their union over staffing levels at Kaiser's other two hospitals in the county according to KPBS.
Meagan Davison, a Kaiser nurse and union leader with United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), which represents around 3,000 nurses in San Diego County, expressed her concerns, stating "it’s morally distressing as registered nurses to not be able to do our job properly and not take care of people the way we want to take care of them." She said that some staff had transferred from Kaiser’s Zion and San Diego Medical Centers to San Marcos, leaving fewer nurses and other care workers at those hospitals in the short-term.
Davison emphasized the importance of having enough staff on the floor, stating there is a "direct correlation between safety outcomes and the amount of staff on the floor." Although Kaiser has stated they will bring in travel nurses to help, Davison believes this is just a temporary fix and has called for Kaiser to sit down with the union and come up with a long-term solution as reported by KPBS.
Kaiser officials, however, have pushed back against the idea of understaffing. Jennifer Dailard, spokesperson for Kaiser San Diego, stated, "All Kaiser Permanente medical centers in San Diego — including Zion, San Diego, and San Marcos are fully staffed and meet or exceed California state mandated nurse staffing ratios" per Fox5 San Diego. She also mentioned that over 1,000 permanent positions were created for the new San Marcos Medical Center through an extensive six-month recruitment process.
Despite these reassurances, Davison claimed that UNAC/UHCP has negotiated better staffing ratios with Kaiser leadership, which are not currently being adhered to. She shared stories of patient experiences and treatment lacking due to insufficient staff on the floor and expressed her desire for Kaiser management to listen to these concerns.
Kevin Soriano, a registered nurse at Kaiser’s San Diego Medical Center, also voiced his worries about the staffing shortages and their effect on patient care. "At the end of the day, it’s about providing the adequate personnel to take care of the patients, to make sure they’re satisfied and happy with the care they’re receiving — but the baseline is patient safety," Soriano said via KPBS.
Kaiser Permanente's new 162-bed, $600 million San Marcos hospital, which is expected to serve about 188,000 members in North County, was built in record time according to Fox5 San Diego. As other North County hospitals have closed their women's and newborn services, the San Marcos facility will be able to provide these essential services that the region currently lacks.
As celebrations continue for the opening of the new San Marcos hospital, only time will tell if patient safety could be compromised by the ongoing concerns surrounding staffing levels at Kaiser's other facilities in San Diego County. However, it's clear that the nurses speaking up hope their concerns will be addressed, ultimately improving patient care and safety across all Kaiser hospitals.
