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Oregon hospitalist union plans picket in quest for first contract
By Dave Barkholz | June 9, 2016
Unionized hospitalists at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend plan a one-day picket this month, an action that management calls surprising given progress toward the group's first contract.
Representatives of the Springfield, Ore., hospital held a bargaining session with the hospitalists this week, said Debra Miller, system vice president of labor and caregiver relations for its parent company, not-for-profit PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash.
The hospitalists created a union local in December, 2014, the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association.
The outsourcing of physicians and advanced practice clinicians is commonplace across the industry. Increasingly, physician groups are selling their practices to either hospitals or third-party staffing companies such as TeamHealth and Mednax to gain access to business practices and technology that help manage workloads and measure quality.
The PeaceHealth hospitalists were the subject of a lengthy profile in the New York Times in January, in which the physicians explained that they formed the union because the hospital intended to outsource the work to a third-party staffing company to increase patient throughput. Efforts to reach the president of the local were unsuccessful.
Patient safety is paramount at PeaceHealth, and the informational picket on June 23 will not affect the hospital, Miller said in a written statement.
She said the hospital and union have a tentative agreement on all wages, incentive pay and time off and a consensus on health, welfare, retirement and physician benefits.
The two sides are close to an agreement on “a joint hospital medicine resource committee—a forum where Sacred Heart Medical Center management and hospitalists will collaborate on topics such as resources and workload.'
The remaining major issue is over a union security clause and management rights, she said.
In light of that progress and ongoing bargaining, Miller said PeaceHealth was “somewhat surprised” by the union's decision to hold an informational picket outside the hospital.
“However, we respect their right to do so and look forward to re-engaging in constructive, good faith bargaining,” she said.
PeaceHealth operates 10 hospitals in Alaska, Oregon and Washington. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, PeaceHealth posted revenue of $2.6 billion in 2015.
By Dave Barkholz | June 9, 2016
Unionized hospitalists at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend plan a one-day picket this month, an action that management calls surprising given progress toward the group's first contract.
Representatives of the Springfield, Ore., hospital held a bargaining session with the hospitalists this week, said Debra Miller, system vice president of labor and caregiver relations for its parent company, not-for-profit PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash.
The hospitalists created a union local in December, 2014, the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association.
The outsourcing of physicians and advanced practice clinicians is commonplace across the industry. Increasingly, physician groups are selling their practices to either hospitals or third-party staffing companies such as TeamHealth and Mednax to gain access to business practices and technology that help manage workloads and measure quality.
The PeaceHealth hospitalists were the subject of a lengthy profile in the New York Times in January, in which the physicians explained that they formed the union because the hospital intended to outsource the work to a third-party staffing company to increase patient throughput. Efforts to reach the president of the local were unsuccessful.
Patient safety is paramount at PeaceHealth, and the informational picket on June 23 will not affect the hospital, Miller said in a written statement.
She said the hospital and union have a tentative agreement on all wages, incentive pay and time off and a consensus on health, welfare, retirement and physician benefits.
The two sides are close to an agreement on “a joint hospital medicine resource committee—a forum where Sacred Heart Medical Center management and hospitalists will collaborate on topics such as resources and workload.'
The remaining major issue is over a union security clause and management rights, she said.
In light of that progress and ongoing bargaining, Miller said PeaceHealth was “somewhat surprised” by the union's decision to hold an informational picket outside the hospital.
“However, we respect their right to do so and look forward to re-engaging in constructive, good faith bargaining,” she said.
PeaceHealth operates 10 hospitals in Alaska, Oregon and Washington. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, PeaceHealth posted revenue of $2.6 billion in 2015.
