DIRECTLY from the Physicians and PA/NP’s.

Don’t take our word for it. Hear how the Physicians and PA/NP’s feel.

1. We believe there is a sacred relationship between physicians and patients that is in direct conflict with the goals of a corporate organization. The primary obligation of a corporation is to its shareholders and creditors while the oath of the physician is to provide the patients with quality, evidence based care. The conflicts between these two often place physician’s in a difficult ethical position and risk patient safety and physician wellness.

2. As Emergency physicians, PA/NP’s and Nurse Practitioners, we are part of a larger system and we can’t effectively do our jobs if the hospital and TeamHealth aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. The Emergency department is the nation’s only federally guaranteed access point to medical care and we cannot provide the patients with the care they deserve when we don’t have any staff for nurses, transporters, radiology and laboratory technicians.

No patient should have to wait 10-15 hours to receive emergency care.

It is also their responsibility to take care of the physician’s so we can focus on our jobs rather than fighting for better work conditions.

Physicians employed St. John Emergency Services have no due process, and are at-will employees who can be fired for speaking out, and are not allowed to see what is billed or collected under their names. The closed books and lack of due process are what Bob McNamara from AAEM (academy of emergency medicine) calls “lynchpin of corporate control and unfair practice arrangements”.

Physicians also lack basic benefits such as paid PTO time for sick days or vacations. In a job where we are continuously exposed to sick patients, this means that we are forced to choose between working while sick and exposing immunocompromised patients to our illness, or losing significant portions of our monthly pay.

When the head of department was asked about this policy in regards to covid, we were told “ I just wouldn’t test myself”. This isn’t OK.

3. In terms of why we organized…we had to. TEAMHEALTH wouldn’t address our concerns until we were finally forced to unionize in order to protect ourselves. The union has allowed us to address the significant concerns we have regarding the lack of resources to provide patient care and ensure physician wellness, without the fear of retaliation and job loss. But just because we’ve address the problems – doesn’t mean TEAMHEALTH has provided solutions.

4. Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners say they are used to fill care gaps and try to patch an already broken system without consideration to our own well being. We are moved to multiple different zones during a single shift and the current staffing model negatively affects the interaction between APPs and physicians as there is no time for clinical discussion or teaching, ultimately resulting in worse patient care.

So now- to protect our patients and ourselves – what other recourse do we have?

If TEAMHEALTH will not give us what we need to provide our patients safety and service in the ER – we are left with no choice but to STRIKE, to use all of our media contacts to bring these issues to light and, hopefully, someone from the state and federal government will FINALLY step-in and force TEAMHEALTH to provide a better environment for our patients. Because, again, this shouldn’t be about profits. It should be about patients.