Students who receive mental health services from Kaiser Permanente may struggle to reach their doctors this week. The National Union of Healthcare Workers, including mental health clinicians of Kaiser San Rafael, have gone on strike in an attempt to improve both patient care and employee benefits.

The San Rafael mental health clinicians joined 2,600 colleagues statewide to stand up for quality care for their patients, improve their working conditions, and strengthen their ability to practice in an ethical manner, according to a statement from the union.

“The issues that we’re striking about have to do with patient care, the numbers of patients we have to see, the wait times for patients to get in,” said Curtis Chun, a psychologist on the picket line at Kaiser San Rafael. “There really isn’t a sustainable way to meet patients needs without working through lunches or working way past or before your time on shift, and we still aren’t able to treat people in a way that we consider ethical or clinically adequate.”

The clinicians see teenagers for issues such as depression, suicidal tendencies, and ADHD, and they believe that with the present number of staff, they are unable to ethically treat their patients and see them in a timely manner, according to Chun.

He added that the clinicians’ main concerns were for the safety of patients with severe mental health issues who aren’t getting adequate treatment.

“The real safety concerns that we all have are for patients that could be suicidal, and just aren’t being seen as frequently or treated as adequately as they need to be,” Chun said.

The strike will end on Monday, Jan. 19. with pickets held until this Friday.