Santa Clara County Nurses Rally to Demand Safe Patient Care at All Four County Hospitals

“Day of Action” will sound alarm on staffing, demand an end to the County hiring freeze

SAN JOSE, CA, UNITED STATES, December 16, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Registered Nurses will hold rallies at Regional Medical Center (10:30 AM–12:00 PM) and Valley Medical Center (12:30–2:00 PM) on Tuesday, December 16th — two of four systemwide “Day of Action” demonstrations occurring that day. Nurses at the facilities represented by the Registered Nurses Professional Association (RNPA) will gather at every Santa Clara County hospital to highlight chronic staffing shortages and demand an end to the County’s hiring freeze on nurses and critical support staff. RNPA members are worried that patient safety is being jeopardized by staffing conditions which are not conducive to safe patient care.

As part of this action, nurses are calling on the County to ensure safe, fully staffed hospitals for the entire community, emphasizing that every resident deserves timely, quality patient care delivered by adequately staffed hospitals and nurses who are able to practice safely. Assemblymember Ash Kalra will attend the Valley Medical Center rally, while County Supervisor Betty Duong will join nurses at Regional Medical Center, standing with RNPA to support sufficient staffing and amplify escalating concerns about unsafe working conditions that undermine patient care and put nurses at risk.

“Nurses devote our lives to caring for our patients, but we must be supported to do our jobs safely,” says RNPA President Susie York. She outlines several critical issues, beginning with unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios, patient classification systems that are manipulated to justify lower staffing levels, increasing workplace violence that jeopardizes nurse safety, and escalating nurse burnout driven by chronic understaffing. “Chronic staff shortages and underfunding only magnify the constant exposure to stress that nurses routinely experience on the job — especially in a County hospital setting, where patients can be violent as well as ill,” York adds. “We are demanding safe hospitals for our community. Santa Clara County residents deserve nothing less.”

“The County of Santa Clara’s most valuable asset is our workforce, and this includes the nurses of Santa Clara Valley Healthcare who are on the front lines every day protecting the health of seniors, children, families, and every member of our community,” says Supervisor Betty Duong. “It is our responsibility to ensure that our nurses can go to work each day secure in the knowledge that they will be adequately staffed and fully supported.”

RNPA is also supported by Assemblyman Ash Kalra, who notes, “As the former Chair of the Labor and Employment Committee in the State Legislature, I am deeply concerned about top management’s failure to safeguard the health of our patients and to honor the essential work of our nurses and healthcare professionals. The County now has an important opportunity to ensure that the dedicated nurses and healthcare workers across our hospitals are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

About RNPA
The Registered Nurses Professional Association (RNPA) is an independent union representing nurses within the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System (SCVHHS) in California, including Valley Medical Center, Regional Medical Center, St. Louise Regional Hospital, and O'Connor Hospital. Their focus is better staffing, patient safety, competitive wages, and professional respect through collective bargaining and advocating for quality patient care. They are driven by members, who aim for a strong, democratic voice for nurses in the public health system and work towards fair contracts and better working conditions.

Event Details:
WHERE: Regional Medical Center (Located by the fountain in front of the Emergency Room entrance)
225 N Jackson Ave, San Jose, CA 95116
WHEN: 10:00 - 12:00 pm

WHERE: Valley Medical Center
751 S. Bascom Ave. (rally will be in the park in the middle)
WHEN: 12:00 - 2:00 pm

Terry Downing
PRxDigital
+1 408-838-3705
terry_downing@prxdigital.com

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