photo credit: Michelle Marques
Providence hospice workers strike in front of the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospice office on College Avenue on July 2nd.

Hospice workers at two Sonoma County offices began a two-day strike on Wednesday, July 2nd. 

“Hospice workers here to serve! Hospice workers here to serve! Providence, you’ve got some nerve! Providence you’ve got some nerve!"

A group of about 20 hospice staff, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, gathered Wednesday morning, July 2nd, outside Santa Rosa Memorial Hospice on College Avenue in Santa Rosa. About 120 total workers are striking over two days.

“I've been a hospice nurse for almost 15 years and have been watching over the last 10 years of corporations have been taking over a local hospice um services in lots of different places and it's really hitting us now here in Sonoma County," said Camille Brody. "Providence is trying to strip away a lot of of the practices that have made our hospice mean so much to the community.”

That’s Camille Brody, a hospice worker who is worried about the proposed joint venture between Providence and Compassus, a private equity-backed hospice company.

So is Steve Einstein…

“I'm sure Compassus, a private equity organization is going to make other cuts and cutting into the heart of our mission and the heart of our work. End of life care is - I mean I don't know how much more important it gets to people than making sure that their, their loved ones are cared for in a passionate and competent way," said Einstein.

Einstein has been working as a hospice nurse for 25 years and says that boardroom decisions do not consider the lives they impact.

“They understand a bottom line and our bottom line is patient care," Einstein said.

Union members are concerned about increased caseloads and cuts to vital programs. These workers, including nurses, social workers, chaplains, and home health aides, unionized in 2023 and have been negotiating a new labor agreement with Providence for the past two years.

Christopher Bowers is a grief counselor who says that cuts are impacting the kind of care they can provide.

“One person resigned this year, and they decided not to replace that position and then furthermore they have decided not to put resources into our internship program so that is going to end in August," Bowers said. "And between that one person and our interns, that's over half our capacity right there.”

Bowers brought his young son along to the strike.

“We have shared with him our struggles and, ‘cause it affects our whole family," said Bowers. "My wife works here too. So yeah, it affects all of us and it affects the whole community.”

Providence, for its part, has assured the public it has a plan to cover all shifts and ensure patients continue to receive high-quality care, but Tim Johnson, a hospice social worker, says he disagrees with Providence on that point.

“We've been trying to bargain with the Providence about you know, like case sizes and and different things and uh they're just not bargaining in good faith," said Johnson.

Johnson says no one wants to be on the picket lines.

“We're just kind of at a point where this is the only thing that we can do to try to uh make them take us seriously," Johnson said.

Striking workers are also picketing at Providence Hospice of Petaluma on Payran Street.