Kaiser Reassigns Nurses Providing Primary Care
Sixteen nurse practitioners employed by Kaiser Permanente no longer will be permitted to serve as adult primary care providers in Pleasanton and most of Contra Costa County, the Oakland Tribune reports.
The nurses will be reassigned to specialty departments within Kaiser to treat problems such as headaches, complex wounds and breast lumps, according to the Tribune.
Alix Sabin, Kaiser spokesperson, said, "The driving force (behind the change) was to provide the highest level of care possible, both in primary and specialty areas."
Kaiser negotiated with the California Nurses Association before deciding to reassign the nurses.
Karen Elwood, a CNA representative, said, "Initially, [Kaiser] told us they had overhired doctors in medicine and miscalculated their membership growth."
The nearly 19,000 Kaiser patients who were treated by the nurse practitioners have been instructed to select a new provider from a list of physicians on Kaiser's Web site.
Sabin said that Kaiser has enough physicians in the region to absorb the displaced patients (Kleffman, Oakland Tribune, 10/18).