Registered nurses at San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp, Calif., began a 48-hour strike on March 5, according to the union that represents them.
The strike involves members of the California Nurses Association, which represents 740 nurses at the hospital, as well as members of SEIU 1021. It is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. March 5 and end at 6:59 a.m. March 7.
As of March 5, the California Nurses Association estimated that 1,000 workers were striking from both unions.
Union leaders cited staffing issues as one of their concerns. They have also said the hospital has struggled to retain experienced nurses partially due to wages.
Hospital CEO David Culberson told The Record San Joaquin General contracted with Healthsource Global for a temporary 150-person nursing team to staff San Joaquin General and the Behavioral Health agency during the walkout. The contract is through March 9. Mr. Culberson said the emergency room, operating room, intensive care unit, labor and delivery, oncology, dialysis and trauma will remain open, and the hospital is working to reschedule some elective, nonemergency surgeries.
San Joaquin County nurses have been negotiating with San Joaquin County management and the board of supervisors for 15 months.