A group of about 115 hospitalists at five Swedish Medical Group locations across the Seattle area voted to unionize as a wave of physician organizing continues nationwide.
The hospitalists voted to join Northwest Medicine United (NWMU), AFT Local 6552, which represents hundreds of physicians and advanced practice providers throughout the Northwest, the union announced. They represent the first group of doctors in the Providence health system to organize in the state of Washington.
Physicians are meant to "be in charge of patient safety and patient experience," Clark Coler, MD, a 32-year veteran at Swedish, told MedPage Today. However, the business side of organizations places emphasis on working faster and harder, collecting and documenting more, and ultimately, maximizing profits. "It's very disheartening for physicians."
"We constantly feel like we need to do more with less," Coler added. Physicians are burning out "very quickly," he noted. And patient complexity is increasing.
He pointed to not only physicians who have practiced for decades, like himself, but also younger colleagues who have just graduated from residencies. "The light goes out of their eyes in about 3 years," he said. "This is not what they signed up for."
