BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Registered nurses from Bakersfield Memorial, Mercy Hospital Downtown, and Mercy Southwest will hold a demonstration outside Mercy Hospital Downtown starting at 6 a.m. Thursday.
The California Nurses Association says the demonstration is meant to send a message to Dignity Health and its parent company, CommonSpirit Health, after 57 employees — including 33 nurses at Bakersfield Memorial — were notified they will be laid off in August.
Jess Guthrie Montes, who works in the emergency department at Bakersfield Memorial, said the cuts also include licensed vocational nurses, cardiac monitor technicians, and other support staff.
"We are sounding the alarm because we are noticing that CommonSpirit, throughout California, is laying off nurses and a lot of support staff that we depend on in order to provide the best care for our patients," Guthrie Montes said.
Guthrie Montes said staffing is already stretched thin, and that losing more support staff will make it harder to move patients through the emergency room, increasing wait times and putting more pressure on the nurses who remain.
Dignity Health has said the layoffs are part of an effort to realign resources and improve operational efficiency, while CommonSpirit has described a nationwide turnaround plan to address growing financial challenges.
At the same time, Dignity Health Medical Group announced its family medicine clinic in Tehachapi will close Aug. 26, saying it has faced ongoing challenges recruiting and retaining medical providers.
"It's a disparity of care, right? When you're talking about closing down a clinic in a rural area, not everybody can drive to Bakersfield," Guthrie Montes said.
Guthrie Montes said more patients will be sent to Bakersfield and could add to the strain on a system she believes is already under pressure.
"And for nurses, it starts to feel like a moral injustice, right? How do we take care of all these patients the way we know we're supposed to take care of them without the support staff that we need?" Guthrie Montes said.
The California Nurses Association is calling on CommonSpirit to rescind the layoffs, saying there are other ways to address the health system's financial challenges without reducing bedside care.
"It's really a disservice to the public," Guthrie Montes said.
Guthrie Montes said the event is an informational picket and there will be no work stoppage.
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