Tacoma physicians are trying to unionize

Joining a growing trend, physicians at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma are trying to unionize.

“ We really want to be able to have a voice, have a seat at the table and work with them and be a little bit more collaborative. And we think this unionization effort is the best way to do that,” said  Derek Tam, a pediatric emergency physician at the hospital. 

The desire to unionize, Tam said, has been motivated by changes that have been made across the hospital. He says that staff feel those changes impact the quality of care they can provide to patients. 

“ We have tried to have a lot of dialogue with hospital administration and it hasn’t really gotten anywhere, and it’s been frustrating for us in the emergency department,” Tam said.

According to a press release from Northwest Medicine United, the union the doctors are seeking to join, there are 65 physicians that the union plans to include in the bargaining unit.

Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital did not agree to an interview but did provide a statement, which confirmed that the hospital had received the petition for union representation. 

The statement read, in part, “We are working to determine the full list of physicians who may be included, as the petition did not cover every department, clinic, specialty or physician group.”

Over the past two years that Tam has worked at the hospital, he said he’s seen changes with how patients are moved through the emergency department, what rooms patients get assigned to and staffing that he said doesn’t align with how he and his colleagues want to practice medicine. 

In response to those claims, the media department from the hospital provided a statement, which read in part, “At Mary Bridge Children’s, the health and safety of our patients and employees is our top priority. We have successfully implemented many practices and programs to ensure excellence in patient care and in our workplace … Feedback from our physicians informs many of these continuous improvements.” 

But Tam said staff have continually been asked to do more with fewer resources, including seeing more patients. 

“ While I think we’re still able to do that in a safe manner, I don’t think it’s the best thing for our patients,” he said.

Those concerns Tam expressed reflect some of the impetus behind more physicians unionizing. 

In 2016, another MultiCare hospital became the first private facility in Washington to unionize physicians. Those doctors joined the Union of American Physicians and Dentists. Doctors at Indigo Urgent Care, which has multiple locations around western Washington, are also a part of that union. 

Northwest Medicine United alone has grown from representing 60 providers in Washington and Oregon in 2022 to 790 now. That’s according to Charlotte Yeomans, the union’s president. 

In the past, doctors weren’t commonly unionized. Yeomans attributes part of the reason doctors choose to organize is because fewer doctors are running a private practice. Instead, they’re employees of health care systems. 

“ I think physicians and nurse practitioners and (physician assistants), and other associated professionals unionizing is a direct response to the increasing corporatization of health care over the last couple of decades,” Yeomans said.

 Medicare reimbursement rates have not kept up with the costs of health care, driving consolidation of medicine, Yeomans said, which has given physicians less autonomy in their jobs. 

“All of a sudden, for the all of us who are employed by a health care system, we have very little ability to advocate for what patients need and do the right thing,” Yeomans said. 

Right now, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital is sharing the campus of Tacoma General Hospital while a new hospital is under construction. It is expected to open to patients next year, according to their website. 

The hospital denied the physicians’ request for voluntary recognition, so the doctors filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board last week. They’re waiting to find out about a date for a hearing, which will determine who can be part of the bargaining unit. Then, those members will be able to vote whether or not to unionize. 

While Yeomans said so far, applications to the NLRB have been getting approved at about the same turnaround time as they were previously, she said that could change at any time given the Trump administration’s desire to cut funding.

“  I think we’re all nervous that funding is gonna go away and the approval hearing for the Mary Bridge crew, will be delayed, but we don’t know that yet,” Yeomans said.