(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) — AI absolutely cannot be permitted to take the role of social workers in healthcare, was the resounding message at the Kaiser Permanente hearing on July 21st, 2026.
Kaiser Permanente and the National Union of Healthcare Workers Hearing at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Meeting.
The hearing, held by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was initiated after a recent Kaiser proposal stating that AI systems will now conduct intake processes and clinician screenings.
“AI Machine learning cannot be used to replace clinical judgment,” said Supervisor Chen, who spearheaded the hearing. Currently, as stated on the Kaiser website, Kaiser uses artificial intelligence to transcribe and summarise patient visits, and send out alerts to patients.
However, this proposed overhaul would be much more extensive, replacing vital intake screenings which assess evidence for suicide risk, domestic violence, and foster an empathetic bridge towards mental health treatment.
“Even if other things don’t go well in behavioural healthcare,” said Kaiser Clinician Ilana Marcucci-Morris, “most science says you better nail it at the start.”
Benjamin Reichert, policy director for the National Union of Healthcare Workers who spoke at the hearing, said of the mental health profession: “This is inherently human work, and we have to use our humanity. I use my human empathy to help patients’ health, and I use my human anxiety to keep my patients alive.”
Well-attended by community members and healthcare workers speaking out against the proposed changes, the hearing was not attended by a single Kaiser Executive.
Labour disputes and contract negotiations have been ongoing between Kaiser and its healthcare unions for over a year.
The largest open-ended healthcare strike happened in January 2026, in which 31,000 health professionals in California and Hawaii walked out for four weeks. Kaiser was able to reach agreements with tens of thousands of workers in major alliance unions. However, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which represents therapists and healthcare professionals, has been locked in ongoing, highly contentious battles with Kaiser.
A secondary issue that was highlighted was the danger of Kaiser outsourcing labour to third parties. Reichert stated that there was language removing protections for employed clinicians being laid off to make way for subcontractors.
Reichert said this would increase the incentive for Kaiser to outsource clinicians, stating: “These therapists can’t easily communicate with the rest of Kaiser’s care team, leaving behavioural healthcare as a separate and inferior service, segregated from the promise of Kaiser’s integrated health care system.”
He also commented on subcontractors’ vulnerability towards exploitation, stating they would not have the protections that union workers under Kaiser would be able to access.
Sal Roselli Speaks at the SF BOS Meeting.
“Our members stand ready to work constructively with KP management to make Kaiser the best place to give and receive behavioural healthcare,” said Sal Roselli, president Emeritus of the National Union.
“We’ll never make progress as long as Kaiser’s intent is trying to silence and replace us,” he added
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