Three Orange County hospitals are facing off with unions in various stages of labor negotiations to resolve disputes over salaries for healthcare workers, nurse staffing and restructuring issues.
Labor talks and picketing have escalated at the West Anaheim Medical Center with two different unions representing 730 union workers.
Of that total, about 100 caregivers picketed Prime Healthcare’s West Anaheim facility on Wednesday, Oct. 28, seeking better salaries to address “chronic understaffing problems.”
In this dispute, a spokesman with the National Union of Healthcare Workers said the union’s three-year contract with the hospital expired in August. The union represents about 287 service workers, including housekeepers, monitor technicians and certified nursing assistants.
NUHC spokesman Francisco Castro said that Ontario-based Prime Healthcare Services is insisting on annual cost-of-living raises that would average less than 3% annually, leaving workers further behind as inflation eats into food and other living expenses.
Prime Healthcare spokesman Mark Reece said the hospital remains “committed to bargaining in good faith with the unions representing some of our employees, with the goal of reaching an agreement that supports our staff while preserving our ability to provide safe, high-quality care.”
The picketing is not expected to disrupt patient care or essential services, he said.
West Anaheim Medical Center, located about a mile south of Knott’s Berry Farm at the corner of Orange Avenue and Beach Boulevard, is a 225-bed acute-care hospital that provides medical and surgical care, emergency services and diagnostic imaging. Prime Healthcare owns 55 hospitals, 360 outpatient locations, and employs 60,000 staff and physicians, according to the company’s website.
Last month, a second union — the California Nurses Assocation / National Nurses United — led a one-day strike for 450 nurses at the same medical center.
The CNA / NNU said the medical center began negotiations with Prime Healthcare last year after a three-year contract expired in April 2025. The union went on strike over wages in August 2025 and again in February over concerns about patient care and recruitment of nurses.
The September work stoppage related to allegations of “union busting and concerns about patient care and safe staffing” at medical centers owned by Prime Healthcare Services in Anaheim, Chicago, Redding and Reno.
Prime Healthcare’s Reece said West Anaheim Medical Center had already implemented wage increases for its nurses over the next three years, but he didn’t share the percentage for those raises.
The spokesman said the wage increases, along with other benefits, have been included in proposals presented during negotiations.
CNA / NNU said the “negotiations are still ongoing.”
Separately, about 70 nurses picketed Wednesday at the main entrance to UCI Health-Irvine along Jamboree Road. They are part of a union representing more than 4,600 healthcare workers in UCI’s healthcare system.
The nurses were protesting layoffs and closure of the UCI Health system’s Fountain Valley pediatric and pediatric intensive care units earlier this year. UCI Health announced layoffs of 150 workers in March as part of a restructuring of its hospitals across Orange County.
The CNA / NNU contends that the opening of the UCI Health’s Irvine facility last December created shortages in patient care staffing with the removal of certified nursing assistants from ICU shifts.
A UCI Health spokesperson could not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At a third hospital — the AHMC Anaheim Regional Medical Center — the NUHC led a one-day picket on Oct. 21 for better pay, safe staffing levels and “functioning equipment.” The union believes that starting respiratory technicians are paid 25% less than UC Health-Irvine and starting emergency room technicians 15% less.
“In contract negotiations, AHMC is insisting on paying Anaheim workers less than workers at nearby AHMC hospitals, which would force more workers to leave, exacerbating chronic staffing shortages,” the union said in a statement.
The union won representation of more than 300 healthcare workers last year, though the nurses, respiratory therapists and medical technicians are still trying to gain acceptance of their first contract at the facility.
“AHMC Anaheim Regional Medical Center has been negotiating a first contract with the National Union of Healthcare Workers since October 2025,” said Judy Saito, corporate vice president in charge of human resources with AHMC Healthcare. “Many of the statements that NUHW has made are not true. For example, employees have received increases. Anaheim Regional will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement.”
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Above, about 70 nurses picketed Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, at UCI Health Irvine who are part of a union representing over 4,600 healthcare workers.They were protesting layoffs and closure of the UCI system’s Fountain Valley pediatric and pediatric intensive care units earlier this year. UCI Health announced layoffs of 150 workers in March as part of a restructuring of its hospitals across Orange County. (Courtesy of CNA / NNU)
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Above, about 70 nurses picketed Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, at UCI Health Irvine who are part of a union representing over 4,600 healthcare workers.They were protesting layoffs and closure of the UCI system’s Fountain Valley pediatric and pediatric intensive care units earlier this year. UCI Health announced layoffs of 150 workers in March as part of a restructuring of its hospitals across Orange County. (Courtesy of CNA / NNU)