Physicians, physician associates and nurse practitioners at Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health's primary care clinics announced May 7 their efforts to unionize with the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association.
The providers submitted union authorization cards to the National Labor Relations Board on May 8, according to a union news release.
The NLRB provides various paths to forming a union. According to the labor board's website, the NLRB will conduct an election if at least 30% of workers sign cards or a petition indicating their support for unionization. Workers would then vote on whether to unionize.
The PNWHMA, a physician and advanced practice provider union represented by the American Federation of Teachers and staffed by the Oregon Nurses Association, anticipates that the labor board will hold a hearing and set an election date in the coming weeks.
"As a group we feel we can have a much more unified and constructive approach for meaningful healthcare change by unionizing. We have seen many negative changes to the healthcare system. Primary care has a significant level of burnout, as evidenced by the numbers of primary care providers leaving this profession," Angela Marshall Olson, DO, said in the release. "Patients must be our first concern. It's vital for us to have a place at the table to discuss provider retention strategies, which will elevate patient care and staff satisfaction."
Legacy shared the following statement with Becker's: "Legacy Health respects the rights of our employees to choose whether or not to be represented by a union. We appreciate the continued hard work and dedication of our primary care providers, who play a vital role in delivering high-quality care to our patients and communities. We are committed to establishing a productive dialogue with the union representatives who will be working with Legacy on behalf of these providers."
If providers vote in favor of unionization, then 150 providers who work at 25 Legacy facilities will join the nearly 200 hospitalists at six Legacy hospitals who voted to unionize with PNWHMA last year along with the 17 physicians from Legacy Women's Clinic who voted to unionize early this year, according to the union release. The latest unionization push comes after Legacy and Oregon Health & Science University, which is also based in Portland, signed a letter of intent in August to combine and create a 10-hospital system with more than 32,000 employees. The organizations are working on finalizing a merger agreement.