Adventist Health Lodi Memorial nurses join state union

“We are patients’ strongest advocates. Nurses from all departments need to be able to speak up because protecting our patients must come first. Building RN power through a strong union is the answer we’ve been looking for,” she added.

Nurses at the 194-bed facility, located at 975 S. Fairmont Ave., said they voted to join CNA because it is critical that they be included when making decisions to help recruit and retain experienced nurses, which leads to improved patient care.

“We’ve seen many of our colleagues leave over the years due to unsafe staffing, inadequate pay, and a number of other issues,” Stephanie Moraes, a registered nurse in the hospital’s telemetry unit, said. “Now as CNA members, we will have the ability to negotiate a legally binding contract and win better working conditions from management. That means patients will benefit because the hospital will be able to keep experienced nurses at the bedside.”

The CNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing union of registered nurses.

Deborah Burger, RN and NNU president, said she is thrilled to welcome the Lodi Memorial nurses to the union.

“We are so proud to stand with Lodi Memorial nurses as they come together to use their collective power to improve their hospital to benefit their community,” she said. “We look forward to working with you to achieve better conditions for nurses and patients.” 

The union will represent more than 340 Adventist Health Lodi Memorial nurses.

“Our patients are our families and friends,” Rodney Gaines, a registered nurse in the hospital’s emergency department, said. “Voting in the union gives us the tools to treat our community the way it deserves and how we want our families treated, protect our licenses when we take unsafe assignments for months on end, and have a voice when we go out of ratio. This is about protection for patients, our profession, our community.”

The agreement comes about a month after Adventist Health laid off 59 administrative employees at its Roseville headquarters.

The organization said the move would save more than $100 million in administrative costs, which will be reinvested into its hospitals and clinics “to help realign directly where care is delivered.”