Primary care physicians at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's hospitals, both part of Mass General Brigham in Boston, are eyeing a unionization vote.
Here are seven things to know about the possible unionization:
1. Physicians filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 15 seeking an election to decide whether to join Doctors Council, SEIU Local 10MD.
2. Physicians told Medpage Today that through the union, they are hoping to push back on "too many layers of bureaucracy" that inhibit physicians' access to leadership.
3. Burnout and staff turnover were also cited as major factors behind unionization efforts. Primary care physicians are required to work "much longer hours" than other specialties in order to be considered full-time employees, MedPage reported.
4. "Within both MGH and Brigham, there has been a collective neglect and series of unfulfilled promises that were accumulating over many years, and it was clear that things were not going to get better," said Michael Barnett. MD, an internist at MGB and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Health in Cambridge, Mass.
5. If the physicians vote to unionize, the bargaining unit would include 400 members, the largest union of attending physicians in the state, according to Doctors Council.
6. A Mass General Brigham spokesperson shared the following statement with Becker's:
"Primary care physicians are critical to the health of our patients and community. We know that PCPs across the commonwealth are facing unprecedented volume and stress as a result of a confluence of factors that are not unique to our organization. We share the common goal of offering world-class, comprehensive care for our patients and believe we can achieve this best by working together in direct partnership, rather than through representatives in a process that can lead to conflict and potentially risk the continuity of patient care. We are committed to continuing our dialogue with our PCPs, supporting them and their practices through this challenging time and investing in ways to reduce burden."
7. More than 2,000 physicians-in-training at MGB voted to unionize last year.