Nurses demand UCSD Health reinstate laid-off employees, cease further staff reductions
Registered nurses at UC San Diego Health (UCSD Health) will hold a press conference on Thursday, July 3 to denounce the disruptions caused by management’s abrupt decision to lay off more than 200 employees, announced California Nurses Association (CNA).
Nurses are questioning UCSD’s priorities and long-term commitment to safe, high-quality care, especially since the institution has reported more $340 million in profits last year and invested nearly $500 million in hospital acquisitions and expansions since 2023.
“While cuts to UC’s funding are real, UC has deep resources, including billions in endowments, to protect the livelihoods and vital contributions of the nurses, pharmacists, nurse assistants, laboratory techs, social workers, and other healthcare workers who deliver the high-quality care they charge our patients for,” said Anna Sindelar, RN at UCSD Hillcrest and chief nurse representative for CNA. “What the public needs to know is every nurse and staff position that is eliminated or goes unfilled results in greater risk of injury for patients.”
What: CNA press conference on impacts of layoffs on patient care
When: Thursday, July 3 at 12 p.m.
Where: UCSD Jacobs Medical Center, 9400 Campus Point Dr., San Diego (Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion)
The Moores Cancer Center and oncology services have been particularly impacted by these unnecessary and detrimental layoffs, with nurses experiencing the immediate effects of short staffing. Laying off nurse educators and nurse navigators—just before the opening of the McGrath Outpatient Center—raises serious concerns about patient safety and operational readiness. In some departments, supervisors have been compelled to cover nursing shifts, disrupting continuity of care. Additional layoffs are reportedly pending for the senior behavioral health unit, despite a sustained need for inpatient psychiatric services especially among elderly patients.
“Nursing layoffs are a false economy: while they may temporarily ease budgetary pressures, they come at a steep price—one paid in patient safety, quality of care, and health outcomes,” said Ally Fischer, RN who was laid off from her position at the Koman Family Outpatient Center. “Protecting and investing in the nursing workforce should be a top priority for any healthcare system committed to excellence. To safeguard patient well-being, health care leaders must recognize that adequate nurse staffing is not a luxury, but a fundamental requirement for high-quality care.”
Sindelar continued, “As nurses, our job is to advocate for our patients’ safety, which has increasingly set us at odds with an inhumane healthcare system that consistently puts profits over patients. Unfortunately, UC – despite being a public institution – is showing they are no different.”
Twenty-two registered nurses represented by CNA were laid-off following UCSD Health’s announcement Monday, June 23. CNA/NNU represents 4,000 nurses at UCSD and more than 25,000 nurses across the UC system.
California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.
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