Dear Friend,

We’re in a mental health crisis, and everyone deserves the care they need when they need it. But Kaiser Permanente is failing us, and it’s time to step up in solidarity with striking clinicians fighting for better care.

More than 2,000 mental health therapists, psychologists, and social workers at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California are now in the second week of an open-ended strike to make Kaiser fix a mental health system so broken that many patients wait months just to start therapy.[1] This strike is the culmination of more than decade of activism by unionized therapists who have repeatedly blown the whistle on Kaiser for violating mental health access laws and clinical standards of care.[2]

Right now, Kaiser isn’t just taking a hard line against its therapists; it’s breaking state law by refusing to provide care for its patients during the strike. Kaiser’s official plan for maintaining mental health services during the strike has been to rely on managers and 50 to 100 scabs.[3] Thousands of appointments have been canceled and patients are enduring even longer waits than before the strike.

The future of mental health care in California is at stake. Therapists are striking to make Kaiser finally meet the mental health needs of its 9.4 million members in California. Here’s how we can help them win and stand in solidarity:

1. Contribute to the NUHW Strike Fund to provide critical and direct financial support to striking mental health clinicians.
2. Sign their Support Petition demanding Kaiser fully staff its clinics and meet the needs of its patients. 
3. Follow and share their fight on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
4. Join them on the picket line. 
5. If you’ve had a bad experience with Kaiser’s mental health services or can’t get services during the strike, share your story with their union and Courage partner, the National Union of Healthcare Workers. The more people who step forward, the more pressure on Kaiser to stop underfunding mental health care.
6. Don’t let Kaiser get away with canceling appointments or delaying care during the strike. File a complaint with California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) by phone at 1-888-466-2219 or file a complaint online.

Patients can’t afford to wait for care. Stand in solidarity with striking NUHW clinicians in demanding Kaiser fully staff and support mental health care services.

Yours in the fight for equitable health care,

Irene, along with Amber, Angela, Annie, Isidra, Jay, Lindsay, LisaMarie, Mai, Mai, Raquel, and Scottie (the Courage PAC team) 

Footnotes:

1. https://act.couragecampaign.org/go/49696?t=27&akid=13204%2E3168579%2EmMTx8N

2. https://act.couragecampaign.org/go/49697?t=29&akid=13204%2E3168579%2EmMTx8N

3. https://act.couragecampaign.org/go/48651?t=31&akid=13204%2E3168579%2EmMTx8N