Kent Hospital is seen in Warwick. (Photo courtesy of Warwick Beacon, used with permission)
Union membership for approximately 230 resident and fellow physicians employed by Rhode Island’s second-biggest hospital network was affirmed Wednesday by the National Labor Relations Board, union leaders announced.
Since December, resident and fellow doctors working at Care New England’s properties — Kent Hospital, Women and Infants Hospital, and Butler Hospital — voted by mail to affirm membership in the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR-SEIU). The vote counts and outcomes for elections were counted separately but announced jointly Wednesday, with “overwhelming victories” at each hospital, according to union spokesperson Rachel Nass.
“The reason why we wanted to unionize is to ensure that we’re all able to properly care for our patients and continue to give 100%, while also being able to take care of ourselves,” said Dr. Natalie Duke, a third-year psychiatry resident, in a statement. “We’re blessed to work with each other and with our patients, so winning our election is so meaningful for us as members of this community and as physicians.”
On Jan. 7, 689 residents and fellows affiliated with Brown University Health’s Rhode Island Hospital also won their elections for union membership with CIR-SEIU.
Nass said the newly unionized members across both companies comprise the first unionized “housestaff” in Rhode Island, a term for resident and fellow physicians combined.
The doctors cited excessive time at work, sometimes up to 80 hours, without appropriate pay and often in the context of understaffed hospitals.
“As a psychiatrist, I see the impact of financial stress on our patients, and so we understand that when we experience that stress, it’s harder to be present with our patients and it makes it harder to convince medical students that they should come here,” Duke said. “The burden is particularly heavy for first-year doctors.”
The newly unionized resident and fellow physicians hope to begin contract negotiations soon with their respective employers, with wages, benefits and physician supports among their top priorities at the bargaining table.
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