| Friend, Competent mental health providers are more important than ever, but Kaiser Permanente, Southern California’s largest health care provider, has mistreated its therapists and psychologists for years. The company doesn't hire enough workers, with one therapist for every 3,000 patients and one psychologist for every 54,000.(1) Therapists are forced to beg for more time with their patients, and they even have to fight for bathroom breaks.(2) That’s why hundreds of Kaiser Therapists have been striking for months. But it’s been a grueling time, with too many striking workers running low on funds and many losing their homes in the wake of the devastating wildfires. Courage is fighting alongside the Kaiser therapists’ union for better pay and better working conditions. But right now, what the striking workers need most is direct support.
Even before devastating wildfires ravaged Los Angeles, Southern California was staring down a mental health care crisis -- with patients of Kaiser Permanente, the region’s largest health care provider, forced to wait months for care. Now, with the fires’ destruction causing depression and anxiety to skyrocket, the situation is even worse. The National Union of Healthcare Workers at Kaiser have been fighting on the frontlines of California’s mental health care crisis for years, and they’ve had success! They won a 2021 law that requires medically necessary therapy sessions within 10 business days. They led multiple strikes in 2022 demanding better access to care.(3) And in 2023, whistle blowing by the union led the state of California to levy a $50 million fine on Kaiser, the largest ever for a health plan.(4) But though Kaiser has been ordered by state authorities to fix its mental health care system, it maintains a separate and inferior mental healthcare system in Southern California. It employs fewer therapists than in Northern California and provides them only half as much time for patient care duties. It continues to single out therapists for lower pay and poorer benefits. The Kaiser therapists union is on strike to improve their lot, and Courage California is with them all the way. But what striking workers need most now is direct support. Thank you for being with us. –Irene, along with Annie, Angela, Isidra, Cecilia, Jen, and Lindsay (the Courage team)
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