Physicians at Salem (Mass.) Hospital, a Mass General Brigham facility, have voted to form a union with Council 93 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Union officials announced the results in a Facebook post March 13, saying that the Salem Hospital Physicians Union comprises attending physicians of the hospital, representing multiple inpatient specialties, who are "dedicated to advocating for their patients, their profession, and for each other to ensure that their members have a unified and impactful role in the decisions that affect the safety and quality of care of their patients."
"Physicians are uniquely placed to be not only the most personally invested in their individual patients, but also the most knowledgeable about how that care should be provided. They seek to collect their voices to reassert their rightful place within the house of medicine, to impact positively their hospital, their patients, and ultimately, our healthcare system," the officials wrote.
The vote comes after union officials announced the unionization effort in January. The union, which is based in Boston and affiliated with AFSCME International, represents approximately 45,000 public and private sector workers in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Patrick Gordan, MD, associate chief medical officer at Salem Hospital, shared the following statement with Becker's: "As an organization dedicated to providing the very best care to our community, we recognize the importance of partnering with our physicians and staff to support their professional journeys. While we are disappointed with the outcome of the election, we remain dedicated to working with our physicians and staff and focusing on the needs of our patients and community."
Union activity has always been prevalent in healthcare. However, in recent years, physicians have been more involved in these efforts as they increasingly choose employment over private practice, according to the American Medical Association. In 1998, the AMA estimated that between 14,000 and 20,000 physicians belonged to unions. That number appeared to grow to 46,689 in 2014 and reach 67,673 in 2019.