For Immediate Release:
July 19, 2021

Contact:
Renée Saldaña
[email protected]

LOS ANGELES – Workers from Kaiser Permanente will picket at Kaiser Woodland Hills Medical Center to protest the healthcare giant’s practice of outsourcing call center jobs from Southern California to other states.

“We see all these jobs going to companies outside of California and of course we worry about the impact on our livelihoods and our patients,” said Judith Vasquez-Roberson, an employee at Kaiser Permanente. “Kaiser is trying to get more with less. The move to outsource these good jobs based in Southern California to companies out-of-state is bad for patients and is devastating for workers and our community.”

Healthcare workers are also concerned about the quality of patient care as patients have complained about extremely long wait times and delays in obtaining care. Earlier this year, Kaiser Permanente issued an apology for long phone wait times amid high demands for vaccine appointments.

“We worry that these outside contractors are not being held to the standard Kaiser employees are. We often hear from patients who are frustrated by the process because they’re not getting the care they need when they need it,” said Judith Vasquez-Roberson, an employee at Kaiser Permanente. “When they get someone from out-of-state, they aren’t as knowledgeable about the area or information they are looking for, so often the calls come back to us in Southern California. This means wait times are prolonged and patients struggle to get the help they need.”

Despite being a non-profit organization – which means it pays no income taxes on its earnings and extremely limited property taxes – Kaiser Permanente reported a net income of $6.4 billion in 2020.