Members of the California Nurses Association at AHMC Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Calif., said they have taken a vote of no confidence in their hospital administrator, Sarkis Vartanian, BSN.
The union, which represents 300 nurses at Seton, passed the no-confidence vote Aug. 10, according to an Aug. 13 news release. Members contend the hospital has failed to staff units appropriately, resulting in more falls and patient care delays. They also contend that inadequate staffing has forced nurses to perform the work of the ancillary staff in addition to providing medical care.
"We are seeing nurses leave our hospital because the conditions are such that they feel their licenses are in jeopardy and they cannot provide the highest quality of care to their patients," Cathy Evans, RN, a nurse in the subacute unit, said in the release. "On a regular basis, we are seeing patients being held in the emergency department overnight because we don't have an adequate number of nurses to staff our units. The emergency department is not able to provide optimal care for our patients who need to be on a medical-surgical or intensive care unit. We must be able to do better."
Becker's reached out to Seton for comment.
The no-confidence vote came less than two months after Seton nurses went on strike for a second time this year. The first strike was in March and the second was in June. The union and hospital have been in contract negotiations since December.
Now, in addition to the no-confidence vote, the union is asking for an investigation into the hospital's revenue and expenditures before San Mateo County provides Seton with an additional funding for seismic upgrades to the facility.
Seton has been recovering financially since the hospital was saved from closing in 2020.