BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — More than 140 nurses and healthcare workers lined the sidewalks along Truxtun Avenue outside Mercy Hospital Downtown on Thursday, calling on Dignity Health to reverse recent staffing cuts they say could put patients at risk.
A total of 137 positions are being eliminated across 2 California hospitals, including 57 jobs in Kern County. The layoffs affect licensed vocational nurses, support staff, and other frontline healthcare workers. All layoffs will be effective immediately on Aug. 3.
Emergency department nurse Jennifer Mueller said the cuts are forcing remaining staff to absorb duties previously handled by other workers.
"They basically eliminated a bunch of positions but didn't hire any new nurses, so we're essentially being asked to do more work with fewer workers," Mueller said.
Mueller said the added workload is already changing how care is delivered on the floor.
"Normally, the tasks that we could delegate to an LVN, such as medication administration, pills, or shots, we're doing that now in addition to our own jobs," Mueller said.
Labor and delivery nurse Angie Patterson said she was outraged when she learned about the cuts. She said her department could lose its secretary, a role she described as essential to keeping patient care running smoothly.
"We're not going to be at bedside to do our jobs and help the moms and babies because we'll be doing their jobs," Patterson said. "You know they're taking away our extra help and we need it to do our jobs safely, safely is the key."
The cuts are also impacting the broader community, with Dignity Health set to close the Tehachapi Family Medicine Clinic entirely.
Dignity Health says the workforce reductions are part of broader cost-cutting efforts to streamline operations and address ongoing financial pressures facing its parent company, CommonSpirit Health. According to Becker's Hospital Review, CommonSpirit has been working through a multibillion-dollar financial turnaround plan after reporting more than $1 billion in losses.
Mueller said the slowdown in care that could result from the staffing reductions carries serious consequences.
"Some people can be seen, treated, and sent home; some people are sick, and they need to be admitted, and that whole process takes a while already, and we're just going to make it even slower. Patients aren't going to be happy, and some might get hurt because of it," Mueller said.
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