TeamHealth Emergency Docs, Nurses in Detroit Vote to Unionize

Physicians, nurses, and other emergency department workers who are contracted through the private equity-backed staffing firm TeamHealth to work at Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit have voted to unionize.

There were 43 eligible voters, and 31 ballots counted — all in favor of unionization, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

The union, known as the Greater Detroit Association of Emergency Physicians, included full-time and regular part-time staff physicians, lead advanced practice clinicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.

Both TeamHealth, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and St. John’s parent system Ascension, based in St. Louis, confirmed the vote, which took place on July 11.

A spokesperson for TeamHealth said in emailed remarks that its “focus remains working with our hospital partners on serving patients and supporting our frontline clinicians.”

“Patients and the community will see no impact from this outcome,” the spokesperson said. “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.”

The company is “committed to working with the union and bargaining in good faith on those issues that are within our control while continuing to focus on protecting access to care for the community,” the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for Ascension noted in an email that “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.”

The vote by emergency department workers in Detroit comes amid renewed attention to unionization efforts in the medical field.

Last December, researchers reported in JAMA that unionization among healthcare workers remained low in recent years, even though union membership or coverage was tied to higher weekly earnings and better non-cash benefits. More recently, however, there has been a resurgence in unionization efforts among healthcare workers across the U.S.

“For healthcare workers, the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic — including struggles obtaining personal protective equipment, inconsistent testing and notification of COVID-19-positive exposures, and inadequate pay with increased work hours — against the backdrop of increasing burnout prior to the pandemic, has amplified calls for labor unionization to improve working conditions in the U.S. healthcare system,” wrote Xiaojuan Li, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute in Boston, and colleagues.

In particular, there has been a flurry of unionization activity among residents and fellows at a number of institutions across the country.

For instance, in June, residents and fellows at Mass General Brigham in Boston voted to unionize, despite receiving a significant salary increase this year. And just a month prior, house staff at the University of Pennsylvania also voted to unionize, with the vast majority greenlighting the historic move.