Nearly 2,400 Kaiser Permanente mental health workers in Southern California say they’re ready to start picketing Monday if the health care provider can’t meet demands aimed at reducing employee turnover and improving patient care.
Psychologists, social workers, therapists and other mental health professionals overwhelmingly approved the strike authorization early this month.
“A lot of clinicians are saying, ‘Enough is enough,’” Marisela Calvillo, a Kaiser psychiatric counselor told LAist. “You know, like, treat mental health like you would in every other department. Make it something that is more based off of quality and not the quantity of patients.”
Calvillo, who has worked for Kaiser more than two years, said she and other counselors are working to prepare their patients for a possible strike by encouraging them to advocate for themselves to receive care if appointments are canceled.
What you can do if your appointment gets canceled because of strike:
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- Know your rights: state law requires Kaiser to arrange for out-of-network care if a work stoppage leads to a canceled appointment
- Advocate for yourself: ask for your concerns to be escalated to management
- File a complaint if you don’t get care in a timely manner
In a statement, Kaiser said it’s taking the looming work stoppage seriously.
“We are making the necessary preparations to enable our members to have access to mental health and addiction medicine services if the union calls on our mental health…
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