Dear Colleagues, Friends, Concerned Citizens:
Over the past several weeks, and in particular at the recent meeting of the UC Board of Regents, we have seen and heard hundreds of thoughtful, principled, and impassioned statements about UCSF’s proposal to expand our relationship with Dignity Health’s four Bay Area hospitals.
Many of you have expressed strong concerns about a significantly expanded UCSF relationship with a health care system that has certain limits on women’s reproductive services, LGBTQ care, and end-of-life options. Meanwhile, many of you have been adamant that UCSF must build on its decades-long affiliation with Dignity Health in order to provide critically needed health care services to our Bay Area communities.
We respect and appreciate the diversity of opinions from multiple stakeholders both within UCSF and outside our University, and we have heard you all. In the past several days, we have met internally, with Dignity Health, and with leaders both in the University of California Office of the President and the Regents. Given the concerns, we will not continue to pursue the affiliation as it had been envisioned, which would have created a stronger link between UCSF Health and Dignity Health’s four Bay Area hospitals.
What remains true is that the critical patient needs that have driven our discussions with Dignity Health still exist, and we have a responsibility to meet them. Going forward, we will continue to work to identify a path to help meet those needs and increase access to crucial health services. We will develop solutions that address many of the concerns we have heard. We are particularly sensitive to addressing the unique needs of women,...
Dear Members of the UCSF Community:
Yesterday, we were challenged with the fifth labor action within the past year. The disruptions caused by these repeated strikes are significant and affect the entire UCSF community – faculty, staff, trainees, students, visitors, and especially our patients.
Once more, UCSF Health rescheduled hundreds of patient appointments. For those patients who remained in our hospitals or received outpatient services, it continues to be disconcerting that they are forced to reschedule appointments or maneuver through picket lines in order to receive the excellent care that our clinicians and staff provide.
As before, we extend our gratitude to each of you who came to work and who planned and helped UCSF through this trying time. We are appreciative of the volunteers and replacement workers who enabled UCSF to continue providing services and the professionalism of those who chose to participate in the labor action.
No matter your opinion about strikes, everyone in the UCSF family is bonded by our UCSF PRIDE Values: professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence and our shared mission of advancing health worldwide. The work involved in ensuring the safety and security of the entire UCSF community, especially over repeated labor actions, can create very real tensions among colleagues. As we come together today and in the future toward fulfilling UCSF's mission, we ask that everyone recommit to these values.
We continue to hope and expect that the UC Office of the President and union leaders are committed to finding a resolution to these labor contract issues soon.
Thank you for all that you do for UCSF and UCSF Health...
Dear Members of the UCSF Community,
Many of you have heard about our intention to expand our collaboration with Dignity Health. Although a proposal has not yet been finalized, our efforts are being publicly discussed.
We want to be clear as to why we are exploring this collaboration with Dignity and how, together, we can expand patient access to quality health care – care for women, care for the LGBTQ community, and care for all patients. We want to underscore that UCSF’s PRIDE Values will be central to this affiliation and are central to all that we do.
In addition, we want to let you know where you can find information about our plans with Dignity. Information is available on our Dignity Health Affiliation page, including FAQs, a letter from the UCSF Academic Senate, and a faculty opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle.
What we are exploring is a broader affiliation between UCSF Health and Dignity Health. The aim is to expand our services at four Dignity hospitals – St. Mary’s Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, and Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz. This would be an expansion of our current relationship with Dignity, a relationship...
Dear UCSF Community,
We have received a strike notice from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union for its Service and Patient Care Technical Units (SX and EX) and from the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) union for its Health Care Professionals, Research Support Professionals, and Technical Units (HX, RX, and TX).
The labor action will begin Thursday, May 16, 2019, at 12:00 a.m. and end at 11:59 p.m. You can find updates on the In the Know website throughout the strike.
As we have stated in advance of previous strikes, we respect our employees’ rights to representation and freedom of speech. That said, striking is a serious matter, especially when it directly affects vital public services such as patient care.
Labor actions make a significant impact on the lives of our patients and their families. During last month’s strike, hundreds of appointments, including cancer infusion treatments, and selected surgeries were rescheduled. In addition, strikes create very real tensions among colleagues.
Once again, we expect disruptions to services across UCSF, including UCSF Health and the UCSF Dental Center, as well as those performed by UCSF employees at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.
As always, our top priorities are the safety and security of the entire UCSF community – faculty, staff, learners, patients, and visitors. To support our work and minimize the impact of the strike, we have refined contingency plans based on our recent experience. The UC Office of the President is responsible for conducting negotiations with the unions...