State Officers

“As a Registered Nurse for over thirty years, I view UNAC/UHCP as a leader among unions when it comes to advocating for the patient. Our collective bargaining efforts with non-profit, public and private health care providers have yielded superior wages and benefits for our members throughout Southern California. These accomplishments can only begin to explain why I have remained a committed member of UNAC/UHCP for my entire professional career.”

Ken Deitz was elected to the post of President for the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) at the 2010 Convention. A tough and tenacious negotiator, Ken has been a leader in bargaining almost every UNAC/UHCP contract during the last 15 years.

Since 1992, Ken has served as chief negotiator during bargaining with Kaiser Permanente. In 2000, the first year of bargaining after the creation of the Labor Management Partnership, he was on the Bargaining Task Group for Quality and served on the Common Issues Committee (CIC). Five years later, he was on the Special Task Group for Attendance and again served on the CIC. Members of the St. Francis Registered Nurses Association and Sharp Professional Nurses Network have also benefited from Ken’s skills as a negotiator.

Before becoming the union’s representation coordinator, Ken served the UNAC/UHCP membership as a staff representative. He now leads a team of 19 staff reps and works to ensure the best contracts are negotiated and enforced at all facilities. He reviews all cases appealed to arbitration and works with local affiliates when needed. Ken continually upgrades his skills as a union leader by taking courses in bargaining, representation and arbitration at the George Meany Center/National Labor College.

Ken earned his Associate of Arts Degree in nursing at Chaffey Junior College in Alta Loma, C.A., after serving a four-year stint in the Air Force as a medical corpsman in Albuquerque, N.M. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at California State University, Los Angeles. A hemodialysis nurse at Kaiser Fontana from 1979-89, Ken was the affiliate’s hospital co-chair and a member of the 1989 negotiating team. He’s has also worked in the Intensive Care Unit and Critical Care Unit.

“I became committed to UNAC/UHCP because of its dedication to ensuring high quality patient care and the integrity of its leadership. We have always been strong advocates for improving the quality of patient care and a driving force toward creating better working conditions for nurses and other health care professionals.”

Barbara Blake became a Registered Nurse in 1977 when she graduated from the California Hospital School of Nursing. Starting her career at UCLA Hospital in the Medical and Dermatology unit, Barbara later specialized in behavioral health, first at Thalians Mental Health Center (part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System) and then at Kaiser Mental Health Center.

In 1982, Barbara became a member of the Kaiser Sunset affiliate of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP). Barbara served Sunset members as vice president of mental health for the affiliate from 1982 through 1986.

Barbara began working for UNAC/UHCP in 1986 as a staff representative for UNAC/UHCP affiliates. In 1993, Barbara completed the Harvard University Trade Union Program, where she examined the issue of health care reform in the United States, studied health care systems from around the world and further advanced her skills in leadership and contract negotiations.

In 1996, Barbara was elected as the UNAC/UHCP state secretary, a position she currently continues to hold.

“I appreciate that UNAC/UHCP encourages our members to actively engage in efforts to improve patient care, their workplace and the greater community. We support this activism in every way possible because we have seen our collective strength create significant improvements in patient care, while demonstrating the inherent value of our contributions as health care providers. Our strength as an organization is a reflection of the commitment of our members to their patients and to their profession.”

Delima R. MacDonald has been UNAC/UHCP’s state treasurer since 1982. She served as Kaiser Panorama Treasurer for 7 years. She has kept the union financially sound and has expanded the finance department over the years to ensure that UNAC/UHCP member needs are met. Delima ensures that UNAC/UHCP passes every audit from the Department of Labor in previous years as treasurer and now every 2 years from our International, AFSCME.

Delima oversees several of our local affiliates’ financial records at the local’s request. She holds treasurer’s workshops and meets individually with each new treasurer to review the financial standards and codes. She is always available to assist the local treasurers and officers.

Delima continually upgrades her skills as Treasurer by attending workshops sponsored by AFSCME and the Department of Labor.

Delima received her diploma in 1965 from Hotel Dieu Hospital in Windsor, Ontario Canada. She left Canada in 1965 after attempting to organize her home hospital and chose to come to California to increase her nursing skills. She worked in the post open heart surgery unit at Kaiser Sunset and eventually became nursing coordinator of that unit. In 1976, she transferred to Kaiser Panorama to work in the intensive care unit, where she then became active again in the union. She also attended classes in alternative healing and received her bachelor’s of health science.