Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES — More than 2,000 unionized psychologists, therapists and other mental health professionals at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California are preparing to strike Monday amid complaints that the massive system has failed to address problems with how it provides mental health care. The planned walkout falls one year after Kaiser reached a sweeping settlement with California regulators, who faulted it for failing to ensure timely access to mental health care. The agreement required the health plan to pay $50 million in penalties and invest $150 million over five years in improvements.
Under the agreement, Kaiser acknowledged it didn’t have enough mental health care providers, which “resulted in excessive wait times” for therapy. The health care organization says that in recent years, it has invested more than $1 billion in mental health, expanding its Southern California mental health workforce by more than 30% in four years. But the National Union of Healthcare Workers said Kaiser hasn’t fixed the problems.
Union surveys of the Kaiser mental health workers it represents in Southern California found 62% said their departments lacked enough staff to provide timely and appropriate care, while 71% said they regularly had to work beyond normal hours. At the bargaining table, the union has pushed for better pay and benefits, including raises totaling more than 30% over four years. Doing so, NUHW leaders said, would reduc.
