Nurses set to strike at Stanford, Packard hospitals starting April 25

The union for nurses at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children’s hospitals formally issued a strike letter to the hospitals’ administrators on Wednesday, April 13, declaring their intention to walk off the job on April 25.

The Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA), which represents 5,000 nurses at the two hospitals, received a 93% approval to issue the strike notice after taking a vote last week. The two sides failed to reach an agreement on multiple contract issues after 13 weeks of bargaining. Both sides also met with a federal mediator three times.

The nurses have been working without a contract since April 1. The 10-day notice is required by law. Key issues include addressing chronic staffing problems; supporting mental health and wellness; and ensuring competitive wages and benefits, the nurses said. The strike is set to begin at 6:45 a.m. at Stanford and 7 a.m. at Packard, according to the CRONA website. The union has not set an end date for the strike.

“Striking is a last resort, but the hospitals are refusing to take our well-being seriously. The hospitals must provide nurses the same level of care, respect, and support that we provide each day for our patients. Nurses are exhausted and we’re burning out. We need contracts that give us time for rest and recovery, mental health support, and wages and benefits that take care of us and our families,” Charon Brown, a nurse in the cardiovascular ICU at Stanford Health Care, said in a union statement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing issues in health care and burnout has been a major concern, the union said. Nurses have faced increased workloads from more seriously ill patients and persistent short-staffing. A memberwide survey by the independent union found that as many as 45% of CRONA nurses who participated said they are considering leaving the hospitals.

California has approximately 40,000 vacant nursing positions, or a 14% gap, as many nurses are leaving the profession, according to preliminary data by the Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care] at the University of California, San Francisco.

“Our working conditions are our patients’ care conditions. The last two years have taken a real toll on all of us, and the hospitals aren’t giving us what we need to support ourselves or our patients. Without solutions that allow nurses to rest, recover, and have sustainable careers, the hospitals risk losing professional, dedicated caregivers like me,” said Eileen Pachkofsky, a pediatric oncology nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

CRONA said the hospitals’ strong financial standing is an opportunity and reason to invest in their nurses to enable sustainable careers. In a recent financial disclosure, the hospitals reported their joint operating surplus increased by $676 million in 2021, and reported a combined revenue of $8.3 billion.

“Stanford and Packard were also some of the biggest recipients nationally of federal aid, with Stanford Health Care receiving $410 million for the Fiscal Year ending in August 2021, in addition to $135 million for the Fiscal Year ending in August 2020, for a total of $545 million. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital received $6.7 million in FY 2021 and $79.0 million in FY 2020 from CARES Act provider relief funding, totaling nearly $86 million,” the union said.

CRONA is seeking contract terms to improve retiree medical benefits, which currently cover only a few years of premium expenses if a nurse retires before age 65, even if the nurse has worked for the hospital for 30 years, the union said. The nurses also want a commitment from the hospitals for higher nurse staffing, considering the complexity of many cases at the hospitals exceeds that of most hospitals in the country.

The union pointed to the recent death by suicide of a travel nurse at Stanford as an example of the need to ensure programs that improve access to time off and provide meaningful mental health support.

“There is a profound staffing crisis happening across the nursing profession. Either we make transformative changes, or nurses will be pushed to their breaking point, leading nurses to feel like they have no other choice but to step away from patient care. There is an opportunity right now for one of the country’s top healthcare systems to demonstrate leadership and to work with us to identify solutions to the nurse shortage and ongoing burnout crisis,” said Colleen Borges, CRONA president and a pediatric oncology nurse at Packard Hospital.

In a statement on Wednesday, Dale E. Beatty, chief nurse executive and vice president of patient care services for Stanford Health Care, and Jesus Cepero, senior vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer for Stanford Children’s Health, acknowledged receiving the strike notice.

“If the strike takes place, both hospitals will remain open and our community can continue to count on the safe, high-quality care it has come to expect from Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Following standard practices, the hospitals secured the services of licensed, qualified, experienced replacement nurses to ensure patient care remains uninterrupted.

“While we respect our nurses’ rights to engage in this work action, we are disappointed that the union has chosen to strike. We are proud of our nurses and have proposed highly competitive contract terms, including market-leading pay and proposals that further our commitment to enhanced nurse staffing and wellness.

“These proposals will help us continue to recruit and retain talented nurses at a rate above the national benchmark.”

The hospitals also said their turnover rates are half the West Coast average. During calendar year 2021, turnover rates for Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital were 11.3% and 8.7%, respectively, while the West Coast benchmark is 22.8%, according to the hospitals’ most recent Advisory Board survey.

The hospitals said they have made “significant investments” in nurse staffing in recent years, even as many hospitals face unprecedented staffing challenges. Stanford Health Care’s clinical nurse population has increased by 36% over the last three years. During the same period at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, the clinical nursing workforce increased by 24.5%, Beatty and Cepero said.

“That’s an increase of nearly 1,200 nurses across both hospitals since January 2019,” they said.

“Our goal has always been to reach a mutually acceptable agreement through good faith negotiations and have to date made meaningful progress at the bargaining table. We will continue to work toward an agreement with CRONA that our nurses can support and be proud of.”

The hospitals have a website with more information about the negotiations at StanfordPackardVoice.com. For more information about CRONA and the nurses’ negotiations and demands, visit crona.org/negotiations.