Nov. 17, 2023
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – Nearly 250 doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants at all eight Legacy Health hospitals across Oregon and Washington are headed towards a union election.
An overwhelming majority of Legacy Health’s hospital doctors and advanced practice providers filed union authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Sept. 29. Health care professionals at Legacy are unionizing to improve patient care and ensure providers at the bedside have a voice in decisions that impact patient care, community health and their colleagues' working conditions.
“The hospital works best when physicians have a strong voice. Legacy truly needs our help running the hospital and fixing its many systemic issues. Forming a union gives us the best means to do so,” said Dr. Rob Morgan, an internal medicine physician at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center and Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. “I love working at Legacy and I love our team. It's my sincerest hope to work here for the rest of my career in medicine. Through our union, I hope we can build a strong long-term relationship with hospital leadership that prioritizes our wellbeing and necessary resources for providing safe, sustainable, high-quality patient care now and in the future.”
The providers include frontline doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants at:
- Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland
- Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland
- Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland
- Legacy Unity Center for Behavioral Health in Portland
- Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center in Tualatin
- Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham
- Legacy Silverton Medical Center in Silverton
- Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Vancouver, WA
The group will be represented by the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association (PNWHMA)—a physician and advanced practice provider union represented by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT Local 6552) and serviced by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA).
“Our pursuit in medicine has always been to deliver high-quality, equitable care to the members of our community. The climate of health care is changing and our mission is increasingly difficult to achieve. With changes to benefit infrastructure and hour requirements, it is our duty to ensure these changes are progressive and consistent with the ideals surrounding patient safety, care quality, and physician wellbeing,” said Dr. Eduardo Serpa, an internal medicine physician at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington. “We are unionizing to have a significant seat at the table and to prioritize meaningful engagement regarding changes to how we operate and deliver care. Our unified voice strengthens our advocacy and in turn galvanizes our resolve towards a better future for physicians and our patients.”
The providers will meet with the NLRB in the coming weeks to confirm unit details and schedule an election date. If approved, they will join the nearly 700 ONA union nurses and mental and behavioral health professionals working in the Legacy Health system and add to the list of recent physician and advanced practice provider unionization wins in Oregon including successful organizing efforts at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and Providence Women’s Clinics in the Portland metro area; Providence Home Health and Hospice professionals who work throughout the Portland metro, North Coast, Yamhill County and the Columbia River Gorge areas; and Providence Medford Medical Center in Southern Oregon.
Although unionized nurses have been advocating for better patient care and working conditions in Oregon for more than 100 years, new groups of Oregon health care workers are now joining or forming their own unions in large numbers. Twenty years ago, few US physicians were part of a union, but as health care systems have become larger and more corporate, doctors see collective bargaining as the best way to ensure their voices are heard in decisions that affect their profession and their patients.
Legacy Health is a private nonprofit health system which operates eight hospitals and more than 70 clinics in Oregon and Washington. It recently made news after unlawfully attempting to close the Family Birth Center at Legacy Mt. Hood, the horrific acts of violence in the workplace at Legacy Good Samaritan, and its announced intent to merge with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
During the pandemic, Legacy collected more than $400 million in profits between 2020-2022 including nearly $100 million in taxpayer bailouts via the CARES Act. Prior to 2020, Legacy’s hospital profits averaged between $44 million to $79 million per year. Legacy also owns a significant $1 billion + investment portfolio.