A large group of nurses rallied outside Alameda Hospital on Saturday, March 21, as part of a nationwide “Red Alert” tour protesting federal cuts to Medicare and Medicaid as a result of H.R.1, the “Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law on July 4, 2025.
The rally was organized by the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, National Nurses United, as a “warning to hundreds of communities nationwide that face a drastic reduction in quantity and quality of health care services” as a result of the bill, according to an email the Alameda Post received from the union.
Alameda Health System (AHS), which operates Alameda Hospital, was set to lay off almost 300 employees on March 9, until county officials voted at a special meeting on March 3 to delay the layoffs and consider alternative solutions. Nevertheless, patients are suffering from the massive cuts to Medi-Cal and Medicaid due to H.R.1.
“The legislation includes substantial reductions to Medicaid funding, one of the primary sources of revenue for safety-net providers and is projected to have a material impact on our system in the years ahead,” AHS said in a statement quoted by KTVU. But AHS officials also said in their statement that the health system has been actively preparing for the financial cuts. “Over the past year, we have taken deliberate and proactive steps to strengthen our financial sustainability, improve operational efficiency and protect access to essential services.”
Nevertheless, Alameda Hospital ICU nurse Courtenay Gonzalez told KTVU News, “We’re seeing longer waits, we’re seeing cuts to services.”
Patients also are more acutely ill when they arrive at the hospital, union president Mary Turner told KTVU. “The reason is, no one can afford preventative care.”
The nurses union denounced H.R.1 for taking money from the health care budget and adding as much as $75 billion to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, AHS officials noted.
“People are really sick, and they need help,” said Gonzalez. “They’re scared to come here, afraid of seeing ICE outside and not being able to come in.”
In the nurses union email to the Post, Mawata Kamara, a registered nurse at AHS’s San Leandro Hospital said, “It is sickening to think money that should be spent on caring for our community is being used to target people instead. That’s not what I want my tax money to go towards. All that money going to ICE needs to be channeled back into our community and our hospitals. We have to educate each other and come together in solidarity to create a society where everyone can get the health care they need.”
