As Kaiser Strike Gains Steam, New York Nurses Vote Whether To End Theirs
Grocery union pharmacists are showing up at pickets in support of the 34,000 nurses, health care professionals, and pharmacy and lab workers who walked off the job amid stalled contract talks between Kaiser Permanente and the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Also, the New York State Nurses Association has reached a tentative deal with New York hospitals to bring back nurses.
Orange County Register:
Kaiser Strike Expands With 3,000 Pharmacy, Lab Workers Joining Nurses
More than 3,000 pharmacy and lab workers with the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Southern California joined a “second wave” of health care professionals striking against Kaiser Permanente on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. Meanwhile, the strike is showing signs of spilling over beyond just Kaiser. (Maio, 2/9)
Bloomberg:
Tentative Agreement Could End Historic New York City Nurses Strike
Thousands of New York City nurses reached a tentative labor agreement with local hospitals, signaling an end to a weeks-long strike where negotiations were complicated by the Trump administration’s cuts to health-care programs. The New York State Nurses Association said approximately 10,500 of its members reached preliminary agreements with Montefiore Health System and several Mount Sinai hospitals late Sunday and early Monday, according to a statement from the union. Nurses are expected to vote on ratification between Monday and Wednesday and would return to work on Feb. 14 if the contracts are approved. (Sapienza and Davis, 2/9)
MedPage Today:
Nurses Say They Might Return To Hospitals If Employers Made These Changes
Adequate staffing, flexible scheduling, and better wages and benefits might entice registered nurses (RN) who recently left hospital employment to return to practice, a cross-sectional study suggested. Among roughly 1,700 RNs who left their jobs in the last 5 years without retiring, 65% said they would be more likely to return if staffing were adequate, according to Karen Lasater, PhD, RN, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia. (Firth, 2/9)
On the use of AI in health care —
Becker's Hospital Review:
Study: AI Chatbots May Give Unsafe Medical Advice
A large study examining the use of AI chatbots for medical advice found that people using large language models did not make better health decisions than those relying on traditional sources and may be exposed to inaccurate and inconsistent guidance. The randomized study, conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford, involved nearly 1,300 participants who were asked to assess medical scenarios and decide on appropriate next steps, such as seeing a general practitioner or going to a hospital. Participants who used large language models, or LLMs, performed no better than those who relied on online searches or their own judgment, according to a Feb. 9 news release on the findings. (Diaz, 2/9)
The New York Times:
A.I. Is Making Doctors Answer A Question: What Are They Really Good For?
When it’s time to have a difficult conversation with a dying patient about whether to insert a feeding tube, Dr. Jonathan Chen, an internist at Stanford, practices first with a chatbot. He asks the bot to be a doctor while he plays the role of the patient. Then he reverses the roles. He feels uncomfortable doing it. The bot is so good at finding ways to talk to patients. ... So what is a doctor for? (Kolata, 2/9)
Other developments in the health care industry —
Modern Healthcare:
Cigna Layoffs To Impact Roughly 2,000 Jobs By The End Of February
Cigna plans to cut about 2,000 positions by the end of February. The reductions make up less than 3% of the healthcare company’s global workforce. Cigna also offered voluntary retirement to an undisclosed number of employees. Cigna did not say how many of the 2,000 positions were filled, which types of roles are affected or who was offered a voluntary retirement option. (DeSilva, 2/9)
Modern Healthcare:
What Molina's Medicare Advantage Exit Says About The Market
Molina Healthcare’s decision to exit the Medicare Advantage market is the latest sign that the glory days have come to an end. The health insurance company will not sell standard individual Medicare Advantage with prescription drug coverage plans in 2027 and focus instead on Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans, Molina Healthcare announced when it reported fourth-quarter earnings Thursday. Like other insurers, Molina Healthcare has struggled to make the numbers work in recent years. The company estimates underperformance in the segment will cost it $1 in earnings per share this year. (Tepper, 2/9)
Modern Healthcare:
Medicare ACOs Grow As Shared Savings Program Sets New Records
Medicare accountable care organizations saw yet another year of growth in 2025 as President Donald Trump’s administration began to put its stamp on value-based care policy. ACOs and similar arrangements have grown increasingly common since the 2010s, and the value-based care sector expects the growth seen in recent years will only continue. (Early, 2/9)
Stat:
OHSU Board Votes To Negotiate With NIH And Possibly Transform Its Primate Center Into An Animal Sanctuary
The Oregon Health and Science University board of directors unanimously passed a resolution authorizing negotiations with the National Institutes of Health that could end all experiments on monkeys and shift the federally funded Oregon National Primate Research Center into a sanctuary. (Silverman, 2/9)
