Are postpartum mothers getting support during the Kaiser mental health worker strike?

As the Kaiser Permanente mental health worker strike continues, some therapists say they worry that a particular group of patients — including people struggling with postpartum depression — are not getting the specialized care they need.

Kayla Caceres, a licensed marriage and family therapist, told LAist she is concerned that new mothers dealing with intense anxiety, and in some cases psychosis, aren’t getting the group therapy sessions that help them deal with severe, and sometimes debilitating, symptoms.

“I don’t think any of the moms are really getting the support they need,” said Caceres, who leads postpartum psychotherapy groups in Kaiser’s Woodland Hills service area.

Kaiser has said repeatedly that its patients would be connected with outside service providers and that their treatment would not be interrupted. But the union that represents the mental health workers claimed last week in a complaint to state regulators that Kaiser had “systematically canceled psychotherapy groups for thousands of enrollees across its Southern California region” since the strike began.

Kaiser maintains it continues to provide the highest quality mental health care.

“To date, there have been less than 0.3% strike-related grievances from patients affected by the strike,” Kaiser said in a statement Friday.

Union cites 'mass cancellation' of psychotherapy groups

Thousands of Kaiser therapists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists and social workers have been on strike since October. Mental health workers at the health care provider have said they typically see more than 10 patients a day and don’t get enough time to manage duties outside of client appointments.

They said they want Kaiser to provide workers seven hours of guaranteed time per week to handle things like sending emails, filling out patient charts and other duties. The union members are also demanding the HMO restore pensions and agree to better pay.

Both sides seem to agree that patient needs are most important, but they disagree on whether those needs are being met effectively during the strike.

In a document filed Dec. 12, the National Union of Healthcare Workers alerted the state Department of Managed Healthcare to what it described as Kaiser's "mass cancellation of psychotherapy groups across it's Southern California region." The groups, the document noted, provide treatment to people with conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, eating disorders and psychosis.

The union argued that the cancellations constitute an "illegal withholding of covered services" from patients. Among them were "high-risk" patients who were discharged recently from psychiatric hospital stays and women with postpartum depression or other related psychiatric conditions.

An example noted in the document, according to the union, was the cancellation of all four postpartum psychotherapy groups in Kaiser’s Woodland Hills service area. Those groups served about 60 patients with severe psychiatric disorders, including depression, psychosis and post-traumatic stress related to birth trauma.

The union said Kaiser offered patients an opportunity to join other therapy groups, but they focused mainly on more generalized anxiety. The union argued that those groups provide less support for new mothers. For example, they might be less receptive to mothers who need to bring their newborns to the sessions.

“A lot of what our groups did was they were baby-friendly, so moms could have the babies in the groups,” said Caceres, who works with patients living in L.A. and Ventura counties. “If they needed to attend to baby, it was just low-pressure.”

Kaiser issued a statement Friday in response to questions from LAist, but did not specifically answer inquiries about any canceled postpartum therapy groups. However, the health care provider did say it was “troubling that [the union] continues to spread false and misleading allegations about the impact of this strike on our members as a bargaining tactic.”

Kaiser said it continues to communicate with state regulators during the strike to make sure its contingency plan is working.

Legislators push for further negotiations

The union’s concerns come around the same time dozens of state legislators sent letters to Kaiser CEO Greg Adams urging him to resume negotiations with the National Union of Healthcare Workers.

The joint letters sent last week by state assembly members and senators — including Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas — both call on Kaiser to agree to the union’s “reasonable contract proposals.”

In its statement, Kaiser said it hadn’t received a response to its most recent offer.

“Their lack of engagement in reaching a reasonable contract tells us they don’t have the best interests of our members and patients in mind,” Kaiser said.

What’s next?

A spokesperson for the National Union of Healthcare Workers said there are no bargaining sessions scheduled for next week. Picketing is expected to continue over the next two weeks outside Kaiser facilities from Los Angeles to San Diego to Bakersfield.