ACEPNow: "Is It Time to Unionize?"

Many employed physicians, PAs, and nurse practitioners feel disempowered and poorly represented. Some are turning to unions for strength in numbers.

ACEPNow published “Is It Time to Unionize?” this week. The full article is linked here. Quotes from the article:

The current negotiating power dynamic favors employers and hospitals over employed physicians, which is reflected in the working conditions of employed emergency physicians.
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Some emergency physicians have started exploring unionizing to gain power in contract negotiations with their employers and hospitals. “Decisions were being made by administration that affected us and our patients without seeking input from the people with the best understanding of the situation, the emergency physicians,” said Bryce Pulliam, MD, a founding member of the Southern Oregon Providers Association union. “When we tried to reach out and share our views and concerns, our efforts were met with silence. We saw a union as a means to guarantee that we have a seat at the table to advocate not only for ourselves, but more importantly for our patients.”
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“We can have our voice heard”, says Sean Codier, DO, an emergency physician with the Salem Physicians Union, “if we collect together and represent each other in our groups, our hospitals, and hopefully together as a larger group as unionized Emergency Physicians.”

Emergency physicians pride themselves on finding creative solutions to existential challenges. Though it is too early to know whether the first set of emergency medicine unions will be successful at bargaining for improved ED working conditions, novel approaches to combating hospital boarding, decreasing workplace burnout, and improving systems of acute care are urgently needed.

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Programming note: the next full EM Workforce Newsletter post is scheduled for release over the next few days.

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