(French Camp, CA) — San Joaquin County today announced a staffing plan that will ensure patient health and safety during an upcoming five-day nurse’s strike amid the pandemic. The California Nurses Association (CNA) provided notice to the County that registered nurses at San Joaquin General Hospital (SJGH) will strike from the morning of Wednesday, October 7, to the morning of Monday, October 12, 2020.

In response to the strike, the County has contracted for 189 replacement nurses from HealthSource Global. These California-licensed nurses are experienced, qualified, and highly skilled, and will ensure the Hospital can continue to provide health care services to the community without interruption. The HealthSource Global team will staff SJGH from October 7 through October 12, 2020.

As recently as last week, the County was at the bargaining table with CNA. Discussions are ongoing and the County urges the nurses to stop this strike and continue to negotiate. In their previous contract with an end date of December 31, 2018, the nurses received a 20% increase in wages and up to an additional 10% salary increase for 15 years of service.

“Needless to say, it’s disappointing to have to manage a nurse’s strike during a pandemic, especially when our county that has been hard hit by COVID-19,” said David Culberson, CEO of San Joaquin General Hospital. “We are a small county hospital serving patients on Medicare and Medi-Cal and our budget for wage increase proposals reflect that reality.”

All essential SJGH departments — including the Emergency Room, Operating Room, Intensive Care Unit, Labor and Delivery, Oncology, Dialysis, and Trauma — will be staffed and remain open.

In addition to the staffing plan, SJGH is working to refer some patients to other nearby hospitals and to reschedule elective, non-emergency surgeries that had been scheduled to take place during the strike window. “We certainly regret the inconvenience these changes will cause for some people,” Mr. Culberson added.

Additional Background

SJGH is a public hospital. Roughly, 65% of its patients are on Medicare or Medi-Cal.

The cost of the temporary nursing workforce for five days to San Joaquin County is approximately $2.9 million.

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