Resident physicians and fellows at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, which comprises the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have reached a tentative agreement on their first contract.
The agreement includes a 24% to 28% pay increase, expanded parental leave, appropriate personal protective equipment, and rideshare reimbursements after long shifts, according to their union, the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of the Service Employees International Union.
Penn also agreed to reimburse residents for medical licensing fees and pay up to $1,000 annually for residents' continuing education, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Additionally, the agreement includes protections against assigning residents undue work outside of their job title.
"With our first contract, the improvements we've secured will lead to better healing environments for our patients," Spenser Chen, MD, a Penn resident in medicine and pediatrics, said in the union release.
The deal comes more than a year after 1,400 Penn physicians joined the union in May 2023. Union members must still ratify the tentative deal, and voting is scheduled between Sept. 24-29.
In a statement shared with Becker's, Penn said: "We are committed to helping facilitate voting in order to properly complete this process, and will not comment further until the conclusion of the vote."