This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA.
Kaiser announced last week layoffs throughout the food service department at Oakland and other Kaiser campuses across California. Although Kaiser claims it will offer a period of continued salary and benefits to laid-off workers, this will not help the many per diem workers who were only able to be hired into unsalaried and non-benefited positions. Severance also doesn’t guarantee workers will be able to find work quickly elsewhere.
Kaiser also does not address what these layoffs mean for patients and hospital food quality. Despite Kaiser’s ongoing promotion that “Food is Medicine,” these cuts spell the end of freshly prepared meals, and represent a move to entirely “heat and serve” prepackaged food. A hot meal may be one of the few highlights of a hospital patient’s day, and high-preservative, microwaved TV dinners are not the same as a meal cooked with care from fresh ingredients (though these types of meals were already unfortunately minimal).
Kaiser’s plan to lay off workers and sacrifice food quality to save a few bucks is just one part of an ongoing struggle between workers and the multibillion dollar “non-profit.” Over 40,000 Kaiser workers across the western U.S. are striking this week to stand up against unsafe staffing, stagnant wages, and deteriorating patient care conditions throughout the Kaiser system. With so many plans to layoff staff, Kaiser should only expect the heat from workers to intensify.
Click here to read the article printed in the 10-15-25 Healthcare Newsletter
