Almost 5,000 registered nurses are striking at 15 Northern California hospitals in California's largest nursing strike in a decade. Thirteen of the Hospitals targeted are affiliates of Sutter Health, the parent company of Sutter Amador Hospital in Jackson. Two Sacramento area hospitals, Yuba City’s Fremont Medical Center and Rideout Memorial Hospital in nearby Marysville, are also on the strike list. According to the Sacramento Business Journal, staffing, patient-care practices and retirement benefits are primary issues in the stalled contract negotiations that prompted the strike authorized by members of the California Nurses Association. The 2-day walkout was scheduled to begin 7 a.m. Wednesday and run until 7 a.m. Friday. Affected Sutter hospitals are located in the Bay Area. According to Sutter Amador Hospital CEO Anne Platt, nurses at Sutter Amador are members of Service Employees International Union, a completely different union than the striking nurses. “We’ll enter negotiations with our nurses before the end of the year,” said Platt, “and we’re optimistic about those talks. We’ve enjoyed a collaborative relationship with our union here at Sutter Amador.”   (end) am Sacramento Business Journal contributed to this story