Forty-one nursing positions and one art therapist role at Kaiser San Rafael Medical Center will be eliminated in October, according to WARN filings. Additional staff reductions affect Oakland, Pasadena, Corona and Pleasanton, primarily in IT and environmental health roles. More than 100 California Nurses Association members protested the cuts at San Rafael and described the mood as shock. Union members labeled the layoffs unnecessary given a reported net income of $12.9 billion in 2024, up from $4.1 billion in 2023. Nurses warned that losing experienced specialty staff could reduce early detection of patient problems and increase risks.
The layoffs, which are set to take effect in October, will eliminate 41 nursing positions and one art therapist role at Kaiser's San Rafael Medical Center, according to Monday WARN filings with California's Employment Development Department (WARN documents are generally required by the state for significant layoffs). The staff reductions also include two employees in Oakland, one in Pasadena, four in Corona and eight in Pleasanton, mostly in IT consultant, engineer and environmental health specialist roles.
"This multi-billion dollar corporation thinks that 41 nurses is going to solve some type of budget problem," Cronin said. "They're taking nurses out of specialty clinics. These nurses have years of experience and skills that are going to be walking out the door with them, and this expertise sometimes is the difference between a condition that might otherwise end up in the hospital. With our expertise, we recognize the early signs of problems."
On Thursday afternoon, members of the California Nurses Association, the union that represents the terminated workers, held a protest against the layoffs at the San Rafael center. Though Pam Cronin's position was not terminated, the San Rafael nurse told SFGATE she attended with more than 100 others and described the gathering's overwhelming emotion as "just shock."
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