A group of emergency room physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and lead advanced practice clinicians at Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit has voted to join the Greater Detroit Association of Emergency Physicians, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
Documents filed with the NLRB show 43 workers were eligible to vote in the July 11 election. The board, which must certify election results before they are finalized, counted 31 ballots; seven ballots were challenged and one ballot was voided. All 31 votes counted were in favor of unionization.
TeamHealth, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based, private equity-backed company, manages emergency services at Ascension St. John Hospital, according to the Detroit Free Press.
TeamHealth's focus "remains working with our hospital partners on serving patients and supporting our front-line clinicians," the company said, according to the newspaper.
"Patients and the community will see no impact from this outcome. For more than 40 years, TeamHealth has ensured that each of our clinicians has the resources available to deliver the highest quality care to patients. The outcome of the election does not change that commitment."
Ascension St. John Hospital is part of St. Louis-based Ascension.
Ascension shared the following statement with Becker's: "TeamHealth physicians are not employees of St. John Hospital. We respect their right to choose to be represented by a union in their relationship with TeamHealth."