DATE:
April 30, 2024
27
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
A RESOLUTION TO OPPOSE KAISER PERMANENTE'S ATTEMPT TO REDUCE MENTAL HEALTH THERAPISTS' PATIENT MANAGEMENT TIME (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
Over the last year, Kaiser Permanente has cut patient management time (PMT) in half from four hours to as little as two hours per week for mental health therapists across Southern California. This reduction threatens to impact patient mental health care for residents in San Diego County and could accelerate the trend of burnout in our healthcare workforce, resulting in more therapists departing and leaving patients waiting even longer to get the care they need.
Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest providers for mental health services in the region. Over 11,000 County of San Diego employees use Kaiser Permanente as their healthcare provider, with thousands of other San Diego County residents rely on Kaiser for these critical health services. While the pandemic may be over, mental health is worse than ever across the United States. This is the wrong time to be making cuts to the quality of care that San Diegans need and deserve. The health of our communities suffers when there is less time to tailor treatments, less time to communicate with patients, less time to consult with providers, and less time to schedule appointments.
Actions across the state are calling for support on this issue. After a 10-week strike, Kaiser Permanente officials in Northern California reach an agreement with striking therapists, agreeing to substantially raise the allotted PMT to approximately 7 hours per week. This move was critical to ensuring stronger workforce retention and ensuring patients get timely access to mental health services.
In contrast to the progress made in Northern California, therapists at Southern California Kaiser Permanente are facing a starkly different situation. We cannot accept a lower standard of care and less access to mental health servic...
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