Doctors, PAs, and Other Clinicians Unionize in Massachusetts

More than 230 clinicians at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) in Massachusetts won their union election and have received certification through the state Department of Labor Relations.

About half of the group’s members are physicians, including primary care doctors, psychiatrists, and hospitalists; members also include physician assistants (PAs) and psychologists, according to SHARE CHA/AFSCME, the union representing the group.

Jeremy Stricsek, MD, a primary care physician at CHA, told MedPage Today that collective discussions about ways to improve working conditions and patient care began several years ago, some of which were spurred by the pandemic. However, in the summer of 2022, organizing efforts became more serious as the group recognized that physicians and other healthcare professionals would need to unionize in order to “better advocate” for themselves and patients. Overall, there has been concern over “increasing pressure to do more with less,” he said.

Stricsek also noted that it was very important from the start for the group to work together closely. Many members of the newly unionized group share patients; for example, as a primary care physician, he sends many mental health referrals to colleagues. “We’re all in this together,” he said.

News of the group’s union certification was first reported by the Boston Globe.

Andrea Cáceres, an organizer with SHARE, said that unionizing gives the clinicians the “opportunity to be at the table and think creatively with hospital leadership about how to redesign work systems that will benefit the hospital, themselves, but mainly, patients.” CHA is a safety net hospital, so the needs of the patient population they serve are complex and can be greater than those of patients at other facilities, she noted.

Residents and fellows at CHA had previously unionized, and Stricsek was involved in those efforts at the time. A good number of other CHA staff had also been residents or received training there, Stricsek noted.

Other recent organizing efforts nearby have included those by physicians at Salem Hospital, part of Mass General Brigham, and by nearly 450 healthcare workers at Boston-based Fenway Health.

Of the current efforts by physicians and other clinicians at CHA, Stricsek said he and his colleagues “hope this can inspire other people.”

CHA said in a statement that it “respects our employees’ right to organize, and we aim to always work in the best interest of our providers and patients.”

“CHA is committed to moving forward and bargaining in good faith with SHARE CHA,” the statement continued. “We have reached out to SHARE to let them know that our intent is to negotiate in a collegial and constructive manner. We plan to meet with them soon to discuss the logistics of negotiations and to set up dates to begin the process.”

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