Silicon Valley Nurses Stage Walkout

Nearly all the registered nurses at two Silicon Valley hospitals walked off the job Wednesday in hopes of higher pay.

Officials at Stanford Medical Center and Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital brought in about 500 nurses to replace the 1,730 on strike and said they would turn away patients before compromising care.

Both sides said they hoped for a quick end to the dispute. “But we’re in this for the long haul, if that’s what’s necessary,” union spokeswoman Kim Griffin said.

Talks broke down and nurses left their jobs at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Hospital spokeswoman Melodie Jackson said both hospitals were operating under a contingency plan that included the replacement nurses and having doctors fill in where necessary. Some elective surgery had been rescheduled, and hospital officials said they would direct patients to other hospitals if they deemed care compromised because of the strike.

Griffin said some union nurses remained working in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units because hospital officials did not have staff available to care for those children.