PsiAN Stands with Kaiser Permanente

This week, thousands of mental healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente, the large HMO based in California, went on strike. They are protesting ongoing and persistent problems in providing mental healthcare, staffing shortages, excessive workloads, and harmful restrictions on patient care. For example, there are wait times of six months or more for appointments, limitations on the number of sessions, and unacceptable barriers to access and quality care. The union representing the workers and Kaiser have been negotiating for a year to no avail—and thus the workers chose to strike.

PsiAN wrote this letter of support, outlining the importance of the clinicians' demands. We also supported a similar strike by the same union back in 2018. Unfortunately, these systemic problems persist.

Here's a recent article on the strike: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/15/mental-health-workers-strike-kaiser-permanente-california

August 2022