MESSAGE TO OUR
EMPLOYEES
With a one-day strike called by the union for March 18, Kaiser Permanente clarifies misinformation and provides facts.
This message was sent to Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California mental health and addiction medicine professionals on Monday, March 16, on behalf of Lionel Sims, senior vice president, Human Resources, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, and Priya Smith, chief employee human resources officer, The Permanente Medical Group.
To our mental health and addiction medicine professionals,
Kaiser Permanente and the National Union of Healthcare Workers bargaining teams met on Thursday, March 12, to continue negotiations for a new contract for our Northern California mental health and addiction medicine employees.
While the session did not result in new proposals or tentative agreements, the union has put a great deal of energy into repeating a narrative that simply does not align with the facts. With a one-day strike planned for March 18, we want to make sure you have accurate information as you approach your personal decision about whether to strike.
Union leadership continues to promote the false narrative that Kaiser Permanente intends to replace our valued mental health clinicians with AI. This is categorically untrue. Not only does it fly in the face of our organizational commitment to the responsible use of AI, but our actions speak louder than NUHW’s words.
We are investing in growing the mental health workforce, not shrinking it.
NUHW is claiming that Kaiser Permanente intends to lay off therapists, citing contract language that has existed in our labor contracts for decades and making assumptions about Kaiser Permanente’s Model of Care proposal and New Technology counterproposal. The fact is that we have doubled our mental health workforce over the past 10 years and have never had a reduction in force of mental health clinicians in Northern California.
Additionally, for years, we have been investing in growing the mental health workforce. We have training programs in place to increase the number of mental health clinicians within Kaiser Permanente and in our communities. Our Mental Health Training Program and our Mental Health Scholars Academy represent the largest nongovernmental programs of their kind. Over 400 trainees enroll annually at the premaster’s, postmaster’s, predoctoral, and postdoctoral levels.
We’ve also launched the Mental Health Workforce Accelerator in several areas where we provide care to remove financial barriers to licensure and help more clinicians enter the workforce to meet the growing demand in our communities.
These programs are just a few examples of how we are investing in growing the mental health workforce, not shrinking it.
The need for mental health clinicians is only increasing — and we are looking for ways to support you, not replace you, while we meet rapidly growing demand and the changing expectations of the members and communities we serve.
Our proposals allow us the flexibility to continually evolve our integrated model of care so you can help your patients achieve the best possible outcomes. We see technology — and AI, in particular — as a way to support you in managing your practice and provide you with tools that facilitate greater access to care and connection with patients.
While union leaders are encouraging you to walk away from your patients on March 18, we continue to come to the bargaining table with the goal of agreeing on a contract that allows us to provide great mental health care to patients and fosters a supportive workplace for you. Please help us avoid unnecessary delays in the care of our patients and confirm that you will come to work on Wednesday, March 18.
The next bargaining sessions will take place on Wednesday, March 25, and Tuesday, March 31. We are also exploring possible dates in April.
Thank you for your continued commitment to our members and patients.
For more information, visit kp.org/nuhwbargaining.