Those turned away so far at UC Davis include a patient scheduled for open-heart surgery, a patient in need of a implantable pump to keep blood moving through the heart, and a patient in need of an aneurysm repair, court records show.

UC officials praised the ruling as one that will protect patients and said they will immediately start spreading the word to nurses that they must now report to work Thursday.

At UC Davis -- where the emergency room and several intensive care units were closed this week -- hospital officials said those patient services will not be restored at least until Thursday morning when they see how many nurses actually report for work.

Strike Was Illegal

The previous contract between UC and the California Nurses Association expired April 30. It was extended three times as talks continued.

But earlier this month union leaders urged nurses to vote for a strike after the two sides failed to reach agreement on several key issues, including staffing levels, pensions and wages.

At issue in court was whether the union followed bargaining rules laid out in state law for public education employees.

In court papers requesting an order to stop the strike, the Public Employment Relations Board said union leaders skipped several required steps in contract negotiations that must legally occur before a strike is permissible.

Under state public education labor law, when two sides can't iron out a contract agreement, one of the parties must ask the labor board to formally declare negotiations at an impasse. Then, a state labor mediator would be brought in to facilitate additional bargaining sessions.

A neutral fact-finder can also investigate issues that have blocked a deal, such as the disagreement between UC and the union over whether to dictate rules for minimum nurse staffing levels in the contract.

Because those steps have not happened, the planned strike was illegal, the labor board determined after investigating at the request of UC officials.

Patients Turned Away

Union leaders agree bargaining stalled, but say the strike was legal because it was planned in response to labor law violations by UC during negotiations. UC refused to negotiate on several issues considered deal breakers by the union, labor officials said.

Legal or not, the planned one-day strike has already had a big impact on patients at UC medical centers in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego.

UC Davis stopped taking critical pediatric transfer patients last Thursday to prepare for the strike, court papers show. Friday, the Sacramento teaching hospital started refusing to take complex patients so it could prepare to shut down the emergency room and intensive care units.

Those turned away so far at UC Davis include a patient scheduled for open-heart surgery, a patient in need of a implantable pump to keep blood moving through the heart, and a patient in need of an aneurysm repair, court records show.

In addition, UC Davis, the only evidentiary center for crime victims in the Sacramento region, planned not to accept crime victims during the strike. The hospital also cancelled elective surgeries and organ transplants.

UC Davis hospital executives did not hire replacement workers for the strike, a decision made to maintain strong relations with employees that also forced the Sacramento hospital to cut back patient services more than the other UC hospitals, which did hire replacements.

Procedures Cancelled

Still, UC San Francisco Medical Center stopped accepting new patients Friday, court records show. The hospital also stopped taking high-risk pregnancy patients, cancelled pediatric surgeries for the week of July 18, rescheduled dialysis patients, delayed bone marrow transplants, and cancelled elective pediatric cancer treatments.

UCLA Medical Center cancelled transplants, all neurosurgery and vascular surgery, and limited transfers from other hospitals, records show.

UC San Diego stopped scheduling elective surgeries, halted cardiac diagnostic tests, cancelled elective Caesarian sections, and reduced mid-wife services for the poor, records show.