Based in Oakland, and with nearly 175,000 employees, Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest health care providers in the United States, especially in California.  Health care workers have one of the highest rates of work-related injuries in the United States. Not only do their accidents include head, neck back and neck injuries but they can also include bloodborne pathogens, chemical accidents, exposure to radiation along with electrical and fire hazards.

Complicated Coverage Issues Can Arise

When an employee in California is injured during the course of their employment, California workers’ compensation law is triggered. As a California employer, Kaiser Permanente must carry workers’ compensation insurance coverage for its employees. The issues of how an employee was injured and the nature and extent of his or her injuries gets complicated very quickly. If you suffered a work-related injury in or around Sacramento, and you believe that you’re entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, you’ll be needing an experienced and effective Sacramento workers compensation lawyer.

Nurse and Hospital Worker Injuries

The job of a nurse or nurses aid involves strenuous activity throughout a shift that can cause serious work injuries. Even a hospital secretary can suffer injuries by tripping over an open cabinet drawer or falling down stairs. Under California workers’ compensation law, it doesn’t usually even matter if an employee was injured through his or her own negligence, so long as he or she was hurt on the job. Those injuries can result in being unable to work for weeks or even months along with financially disastrous medical bills.

What to Do After Being Injured at a Kaiser Permanente Facility

After being hurt on the job at a Kaiser Permanente facility, preserve and protect your rights. To do so, you’ll need to take the following steps:

• Report the accident or occupational illness to your supervisor right away. If you’re physically capable of doing so, complete a DWC 1 form and retain a copy of it. Failure to report it within 30 days can be cause for denial of workers’ compensation benefits.
• Obtain emergency care and treatment immediately. You’ll want the injury or illness documented.
• Follow all medical instructions.
• Contact us as soon as possible after your accident to arrange for a free consultation and case review with a knowledgeable and experienced Sacramento workers compensation lawyer.

Both health care employers and their insurance companies are aware of the employment risks that nurses and other hospital workers are exposed to. Regardless of that knowledge and in efforts to pay as little compensation as possible, employers and their insurance companies routinely dispute the cause, nature and extent of injuries that employees suffer.  Our job is to obtain full workers’ compensation benefits for nurses and other health care workers so they can recover physically and financially and return to their careers.

Contact a Sacramento Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Today

In almost all cases when someone is injured on the job, the worker will get the best possible outcome by hiring an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer.

If you’re a nurse or other employee of Kaiser Permanente in or around Sacramento, and you suffered a serious injury or illness while at work, you are eligible to pursue workers’ compensation benefits for your injuries. Preserve and protect your right to those benefits as soon as you possibly can by contacting our offices for a free consultation and case review. You can tell us what happened, and we’ll be pleased to answer your questions. After that, we’ll advise you on all of your options under California workers’ compensation law.