Advanced care providers at PeaceHealth in Whatcom and Skagit counties will vote later this month on whether to unionize.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will mail ballots on Monday, Aug. 21 to about 89 physician assistants, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, said Vivi Le, communications manager for the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD).
PeaceHealth’s advanced practice clinicians filed for union status in July, citing increased pressures from management to fit more patients into their schedules, in order to boost revenue.
“It really just revolves around the patient care aspect,” Le said. “They just want to be able to work together with management and talk to them about the concerns they are having in their departments.”
A UAPD news release from July said concerns about “assembly-line care” at PeaceHealth have been brewing for three years.
“In recent months those issues have grown to include the health care organization’s long-term viability in Bellingham, amid news reports of financial shortfalls, clinic closures and layoffs,” the release said.
PeaceHealth terminated comprehensive outpatient palliative care, closed some of its clinics and laid off providers over the past several months, in cost-cutting moves.
PeaceHealth issued a statement Monday on the upcoming union vote:
“PeaceHealth is committed to providing a fair and just workplace for all of our caregivers, and endeavors to offer wages, benefits, and working conditions consistent with standards across the region and industry. Our preference is to work directly with our providers,” the statement said.
NLRB will count ballots cast by advanced practice clinicians on Sept. 18 and approve the new bargaining unit if a simple majority of those casting votes are in favor, Le said.
The potential bargaining unit is not as large as union organizers had hoped. The providers eligible to join UAPD are those who offer non-acute care in clinics, and those who work in PeaceHealth’s hospitals are excluded.
The not-for-profit health system operates two hospitals in Whatcom and Skagit counties: PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham and United General Medical Center in Sedro-Woolley.
