Nurses and nurse aides at UC San Diego Health on Thursday railed against the abrupt decision to lay off more than 200 workers.
Roughly three dozen people rallied in front of UCSD Jacobs Medical Center to protest the cuts. UCSD Health laid off 230 workers — about 1.5% of its workforce — across its clinics and hospitals last week.
The cuts include many frontline workers, such as pharmacists, nurses, nurse aides and social workers.
Nurse Michael Kennedy called the decision "terrible."
"At a time when we are experiencing a staffing crisis already," he said.
UCSD said the layoffs were necessary due to rising costs, regulatory uncertainty and federal funding cuts.
“The recent decision to lay off members of our team was very difficult, and we did not arrive at that decision lightly or quickly," the health care system said in a statement. "The decision followed a rigorous and comprehensive staff benchmarking process that focused on safety and operational sustainability.”
Kennedy, who is also a member of the California Nurses Association, the union representing nurses, conceded that the funding cuts are real but said those cuts should come from the top, not frontline workers.
“They made no cuts at the top. They immediately went for the bottom," he said. "They gave themselves a pay raise a week after firing staff. That is unconscionable. That is unbelievable.”
According to the union, UCSD Health reported more than $340 million in profits last year and invested nearly $500 million in hospital acquisitions and expansions since 2023.
Workers said the layoffs were abrupt. Candace Stangler got a text message while at the doctor’s office. By the time the visit was over, "I had already been laid off. No one ever spoke to me,” she said.
Stangler, who is a certified nursing assistant, was on maternity leave when she was laid off. The abrupt decision means she won't be able to be added to her husband's insurance.
"I was in my third trimester appointment and found out 48 hours after being given my layoff notice that I had no insurance," she said. "It was already cut off. 'Oh, OK. I'm now due in 26 days, and I don't know how I'm going to pay for the birth of my baby.'"
More than that, Stangler said the cuts were already affecting patient care.
“I've been getting reports that now patients have actually urinated in their bed waiting for someone to come and help them as a result of not having enough staff,” she said.
UCSD Health said its top priority is patient safety.
"We actively ensure that our staffing levels support the health and well-being of our patients and care teams across all of our clinics and hospitals," it said in a statement.
The union said supervisors are covering nursing shifts to fill the gap, but that is disrupting the continuity of care. Kennedy said the staffing shortage is creating stress among the remaining workers due to the increased patient-to-staff ratio. That could lead to small mistakes that, over time, become big mistakes.
"Total-care patients who require turning every two hours to prevent bedsores," he said. "If you miss one of those at one time, it may not be bad, but if you miss it multiple times, someone will end up with bedsores. And when you don't have the staff to do those turns, that's inevitably going to happen."
The union is asking that UCSD Health reinstate laid-off workers immediately. The hospital system said it is working diligently to "ensure patient safety while managing this difficult process.”
