Nurses at Desert Regional Medical Center to Strike

 Nurses at Tenet’s Desert Regional Medical Center and Hi-Desert Medical Center to Hold one-day strikes

PALM SPRINGS — California registered nurses at Tenet Healthcare’s Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs and Hi-Desert Regional Medical Center in Joshua Tree will join nurses at four other Tenet hospitals in the state for a one-day strike on Thursday to protest the multibillion-dollar hospital corporation’s refusal to address nurses’ concerns about patient care and safe staffing,  California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) announced.

The 3,100 Tenet nurses, represented by CNA, have been in contract negotiations since February, with little to no movement on key issues.

“As a charge nurse in the emergency department, I see firsthand how short staffing directly impacts patient safety,” said Shabana Begum, a registered nurse at Hi-Desert Regional Medical Center. “We’re demanding the resources to provide the care our patients deserve. When we speak up, it’s because we’re watching patients wait hours for beds, care, and the attention they should receive immediately. I work in this hospital. I live in this town. I want Hi-Desert to be a place where I’d feel confident sending my own family. Right now, we are being stretched too thin.”

Nurses will strike at Desert Regional Medical Center and Hi-Desert Regional Medical Center from 7 a.m. Thursday until 6:59 a.m. mmm. to 6:59 Friday A rally is set for Thursday at 11 a.m.

At Hi-Desert Regional Medical Center, 6601 White Feather Rd, Joshua Tree, a walkout is set for 7 a.m., nurses with on strike line until 7 p.m.

At Desert Regional Medical Center, nurses say Tenet is allegedly jeopardizing care for the most vulnerable of patients, the fragile newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital was granted a waiver only for emergency situations, which allows the hospital to cut staffing below the state-mandated safe patient ratios in the unit. However, the hospital is using the waiver on a continual basis, even sending nurses home, creating conditions that threaten the care of these very sick newborns.

“Tenet is jeopardizing patient care for the most vulnerable newborns in our hospital,” said Deb Edwards, a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit. “We demand safe staffing for our precious babies and that Tenet live up to its stated values of ‘acting with integrity and the highest ethical standards, always.’”

The nurses are slated to strike at the following Tenet hospitals: San Ramon Medical Center (San Ramon); Doctors Hospital Manteca (Manteca); Doctors Medical Center (Modesto); Emanuel Medical Center ( Turlock); Desert Regional Medical Center (Palm Springs); and Hi-Desert Medical Center (Joshua Tree)

Nurses delivered a 10-day notice of their strike to Tenet on Oct. 20 to allow management to make alternative plans for patient care. The nurses had voted unanimously to authorize a strike during the week of Sept. 8.

Tenet RNs are urging management to invest in nursing staff and the communities served by its hospitals by agreeing to standards that ensure the highest quality of patient care:

• Guaranteed meal- and rest-break coverage. Most nurses work 12-hour shifts and need time to eat and regroup so they can be present for all their patients.
•  Improvements to recruitment and retention of experienced nurses. Experienced nurses are critical to safe patient care and serve as mentors to newer nurses.
• Lift teams to help with turning and lifting patients. Dedicated staff for the recurring task of lifting patients helps reduce injury to patients and nurses.
• Safe staffing at all times. When there are not adequate nurses and ancillary staff on a unit, patient care is delayed, which can lead to harm for our patients.

Tenet recently garnered national attention for how its failures to invest in adequate nursing staff and resources in its hospitals fuel moral injury and distress while putting patient care in jeopardy. Lorena Burkett, a nurse at Tenet’s Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, recently recounted to KFF Health News, one of the nation’s leading health care outlets, how understaffing undermines her ability to provide the optimal care for her patients.

Tenet was highlighted in 2023’s Dirty Dozen report by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, which found that Tenet cuts corners on patient and worker safety and retaliates against those who speak out about safety issues.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation is a multibillion-dollar health care company. Last year, Tenet made $4.1 billion in profits, a jump from $1.3 billion in 2023. The CEO, Saum Sutaria, is the highest-paid health care CEO in the country. Sutaria took home more than $24 million in 2024.

CNA represents 3,100 registered nurses at six Tenet hospitals in California, including 940 registered nurses at Desert Regional Medical Center, and 90 at Hi-Desert Regional Medical Center.