For Immediate Release
Thursday, January 23, 1997
Physicians at Thomas-Davis Medical Centers Vote for Union Representation; Election Could Cause Ripple Effect Throughout HMO Industry
In an election which could cause a ripple effect throughout the HMO industry, physicians at Thomas-Davis Medical Centers in Tucson, Arizona have voted overwhelmingly to be represented by the Federation of Physicians and Dentists (FPD), which is an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO.
In results announced today, the physicians voted 93-32 to be represented by the federation, which already represents medical professionals in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Washington, D.C. Physician organizer Robert Osborne, MD, said that the issue driving the union effort in Tucson -- a desire to change the health care industry and place patient care back in the hands of doctors and other health care practitioners -- has given birth to organizing campaigns in other locations.
According to FPD Executive Director Jack Seddon, "The current behavioral trends of HMOs -- putting profits before patients -- are leading physicians and other health care professionals to question many of the decisions taking place at their respective hospitals and facilities, and to seek answers. Sadly, they're finding more and more of the answers they receive -- if they receive an answer at all -- to be unsatisfactory in terms of their impact on their patients and their profession. Growing numbers of them have been turning to us to assist them in the fight to protect the quality of patient care."
TDMC physician Keith Shelman said that the over-riding goal of union supporters is a return to a work environment where they can "once again be good doctors. The rapid changes taking place among HMOs and the health care industry as a whole make it more difficult for us to offer proper medical care to our patients. In a very short time frame, we have seen more and more of our decision-making ability and our patient care authority taken away from us."
"Physicians are used to making decisions based on the merits, and on what's best for the patients," said Robert Osborne, an anesthesiologist in private practice who helped coordinate the unionization effort. "The election results constitute a victory not only for the physicians at Thomas-Davis, but for all their patients, and it sends a signal to the health care industry profiteers that we're capable of fighting back effectively when our backs are against the wall on patient care.
"These people who put profits before patients made a major mistake when they underestimated our resolve," Osborne added. "They forgot that we, as doctors, are bound by our licenses and by our moral and ethical convictions, to put patient care before all other concerns. HMOs and others in the industry ignore that reality at their own peril: Union organizing efforts ar sprouting throughout the country."
Henry Nicholas, president of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE), which is also an AFSCME affiliate, stated the "The national union is committed to returning the practice of medicine and the role of the patient advocate to the physicians. The growth of administrative medicine for profit must be stopped before it is too late."
The organizing is not limited to physicians: The federation is attempting to organize registered nurses and other health care workers throughout Tucson. About 450 additional TDMC employees will be voting in a union election on February 13. And last June, 2600 nurses at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego voted to be represented by another NUHHCE/AFSCME affiliate.
