Five things to know:
1. Doctors Council — Service Employees International Union issued a 10-day strike notice to NYC Health + Hospitals and its affiliates, Physicians Affiliate Group of New York and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, according to a Jan. 2 union news release shared with Becker’s.
2. The physicians planning to strike are employed by NYC Health + Hospitals’ affiliates.
“While we respect the right to collective action, facing a strike is unfortunate,” Physicians Affiliate Group of New York’s board of directors said in a Jan. 2 news release shared with Becker’s. “We have approached these negotiations with transparency and a genuine commitment to addressing concerns, presenting an offer that includes meaningful enhancements for our doctors and other healthcare providers. Our focus should remain on delivering quality care to the communities we serve.”
3. The strikes are planned at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health.
4. “We value physicians who serve patients at NYC Health + Hospitals every day,” the health system said in a statement shared with Becker’s. “We continue to encourage all parties involved to work together at the bargaining table to prevent a strike and ensure that quality care remains uninterrupted for our patients.”
5. More than 2,500 attending physicians across the system have been negotiating for a contract since September 2023. Union members seek terms that address rising costs of living, long hours and burnout amid recruitment and retention challenges, according to the union release. “Without a fair contract, our communities will continue to face a critical shortage of doctors, and patients will ultimately bear the brunt of the system’s failure,” Joplin Steinweiss, DO, a primary care physician at Jacobi, said in the release.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:38 a.m. on Jan. 3.
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