PAs (and others) go on a union organized strike.

[sas5814]

Contracted physicians, assistants at Ascension St. John go on strike (detroitnews.com)

 

My entire life I have been anti-union. I have had to change my mind because of the way giant corporations and organizations act.

[ventana]

4 hours ago, sas5814 said:

Contracted physicians, assistants at Ascension St. John go on strike (detroitnews.com)

 

My entire life I have been anti-union. I have had to change my mind because of the way giant corporations and organizations act.

I am with you.  
 

there is no ability to push back against huge companies as one person. 
add in the financial incentives to take advantage of PA and the only answer is unions!

[SedRate]

Interesting and sad to read that it has gotten so bad. Thanks for sharing. 

I wonder if others will follow suit and about the implications of a strike. Could it be construed as pt abandonment? 

[Boatswain2PA]

On 4/18/2024 at 3:54 PM, sas5814 said:

Contracted physicians, assistants at Ascension St. John go on strike (detroitnews.com)

 

My entire life I have been anti-union. I have had to change my mind because of the way giant corporations and organizations act.

You have been anti union?  Or anti public sector union?

Being part of private-sector unions balances the power of the owners, yet doesn't give full control to the workers either because if the workers demand too much, then there is no profit and the owner can close the company and walk, then the workers are out jobs.  Therefore the unions are not the fatal parasitic leeches that public sector unions are.

But PUBLIC sector unions are an unholy alliance between corrupt politicians who take our tax money to give ever-increasing pay and benefits to public sector workers in exchange for their vote.  This creates a positive feedback loop paid for by us taxpayers.

Corporate Medical Groups like TeamHealth, US Acute Care Solutions etc are fueling the dumpster fires that consume most urban emergency departments today, all while chasing the profit they can give to their private equity backers. 

Hospital board members need to understand how bad these groups are for their hospitals.  Hospital executives need to step up and staff their emergency departments directly instead of going through these leeches. 

Good on these docs and PAs for fighting back. 

Edited April 20 by Boatswain2PA

[Boatswain2PA]

Looking at the article closer you can see how the dishonest "managers" massage the numbers. 

While the Docs say patients are waiting 17 hours, management says it's a 23 minute door to doc time.  And management says the patients per hour has gone from 2.3 to 1.9.

What this REALLY means is they hired a new grad NP to be "triage" and see everyone at check-in, which dropped their vaunted "door to doc" time to 23 minutes.  But then patients are sent back to the waiting room for another 16.5 hours.  But hey...they are meeting the metrics!

And the patients per hour has gone from 2.3 to 1.9 because the processes implemented by TeamHealth slows down the providers, and of course the hospital is probably critically short of nurses so slower room turnovers, closed wings, etc. 

[ventana]

1 hour ago, Boatswain2PA said:

 

But PUBLIC sector unions are an unholy alliance between corrupt politicians who take our tax money to give ever-increasing pay and benefits to public sector workers in exchange for their vote.  This creates a positive feedback loop paid for by us taxpayers. 

so being in a union in VA is bad?   It is the first job where I am not told flat out I must comply or else loose my job.

I can see the argument but in health care I think the bigger picture is actually trying to care for the patients instead of pad the bottom line....

[Boatswain2PA]

38 minutes ago, ventana said:

so being in a union in VA is bad?   It is the first job where I am not told flat out I must comply or else loose my job.

I can see the argument but in health care I think the bigger picture is actually trying to care for the patients instead of pad the bottom line....

Yes.  See above. 

Public sector unions are one of the leading contributors to the governmental gross inefficiencies and outrageous expense.

VA is generally a bureaucratic nightmare worsened by the public sector unions that protect the taxpayer funded employees.

[ventana]

4 hours ago, Boatswain2PA said:

Yes.  See above. 

Public sector unions are one of the leading contributors to the governmental gross inefficiencies and outrageous expense.

VA is generally a bureaucratic nightmare worsened by the public sector unions that protect the taxpayer funded employees.

have you worked at a VA??

[Reality Check 2]

You are not required to PAY the union at the VA. PERIOD.

I never have and never will.

The Union Rep where I am has not impressed me nor shown any interest in any emails I ever sent him in 7+ years.

In fact, I got ZERO response to inquiring emails. ZERO.

So, I am not paying for absence of service.

[Boatswain2PA]

16 hours ago, ventana said:

have you worked at a VA??

Have you ever sought care at the VA?

No, I haven't worked at a VA.  I did apply to their ED about 10 years ago.  Despite being a disabled retired military, which should have put me at the top of the list for hiring, I never heard back from them.

Until about a YEAR later.  One of my co-workers leaves her job to go work for the VA ED.  She had applied about a year before as well, took them months to get back with her, and then about 9 months of bureaucracy before she would finally start. 

She quit her job and started at the VA.  She lasted exactly 1 shift before quitting because, in her words, the EMR was horrible.

The day she returned to work with me, I got a call from the VA asking if I could interview....TOMORROW!   Ummm....nope.

Getting CARE at the VA shows the obvious bureaucratical bungling.

 

[Boatswain2PA]

On 4/20/2024 at 3:11 PM, ventana said:

have you worked at a VA??

Have you ever gotten care at the VA?

 

Didn't think so...

[sas5814]

On 4/20/2024 at 8:21 AM, Boatswain2PA said:

You have been anti union?  Or anti public sector union?

Anti union. My limited experience has been seeing useless lazy employees empowered to continue to game the system hiding behind unions.

 

I have, in recent years, seen more and more large organizations and government organizations take advantage of powerless employees. Some of it has been egregious and just seems to be getting worse. Employees would be, otherwise, absolutely overwhelmed by giant machines that have lawyers and power and take advantage. I have been a dues paying union member since I started at the VA.

[sas5814]

On 4/21/2024 at 7:30 AM, Boatswain2PA said:

No, I haven't worked at a VA.  I did apply to their ED about 10 years ago.  Despite being a disabled retired military, which should have put me at the top of the list for hiring, I never heard back from them.

I used to have the same thought BUT this is only a discriminator in 2 similarly qualified candidates. They work around it all the time by simply saying another candidate was better qualified. Its highly subjective and fighting it is simply not worth the trouble to most people.

[ventana]

On 4/21/2024 at 5:47 PM, Boatswain2PA said:

Have you ever gotten care at the VA?

 

Didn't think so...

Please don’t answer for me 

 

in fact I am a disabled vet and yes I get care from the VA 

[Boatswain2PA]

13 hours ago, ventana said:

Please don’t answer for me 

 

in fact I am a disabled vet and yes I get care from the VA 

Good on you.

[ventana]

3 hours ago, Boatswain2PA said:

Good on you.

once again you make an assumption, are wrong, and when I answer your question you have a snarky reply.   

[Boatswain2PA]

17 hours ago, ventana said:

once again you make an assumption, are wrong, and when I answer your question you have a snarky reply.   

snarky reply?  Did I hurt your feelings enough for you to ban me again?  Go ahead....

FYI - "Good on you" is a congratulatory phrase.  Yes, I was giving you kudo's, but it went over your head and somehow hurt your feelings.

Do you need an apology?  Would that make you feel better?

[ventana]

On 4/24/2024 at 8:29 AM, Boatswain2PA said:

snarky reply?  Did I hurt your feelings enough for you to ban me again?  Go ahead....

FYI - "Good on you" is a congratulatory phrase.  Yes, I was giving you kudo's, but it went over your head and somehow hurt your feelings.

Do you need an apology?  Would that make you feel better?

HEre goes Boats again, making everything personal...... gets tiring boats, really does.....

[Cideous]

Ya know...I have posted almost nothing on this board in months and I come back and see Boats doing the same old Boats thing.  Jesh, this is why this board is pretty much dead.

Oh and before I get shit for not being in the VA system.....I am a 43% disabled military vet who USES the VA....so....what........good on me?  lol

[Boatswain2PA]

On 4/20/2024 at 3:11 PM, ventana said:

have you worked at a VA??

Hmmm....who started making it personal?

16 hours ago, Cideous said:

Ya know...I have posted almost nothing on this board in months and I come back and see Boats doing the same old Boats thing.  Jesh, this is why this board is pretty much dead.

Looks like the board was pretty much dead for the 6 months or so I was away.

Too few people post here, and they all say the same thing...

[ohiovolffemtp]

Focusing again on the strike:

This was a recently unionized group of providers working for TeamHealth at an Ascension facility in the Chicago area.  I don't know but would suspect that Team probably brought in some of their internal travelers to cover the ED during the 1 day strike.  Has anyone heard whether their has been any movement on the issues at the center of the strike?  Has anyone heard whether there has been any reprisals against the strikers?

[EMEDPA]

24 minutes ago, ohiovolffemtp said:

Focusing again on the strike:

This was a recently unionized group of providers working for TeamHealth at an Ascension facility in the Chicago area.  I don't know but would suspect that Team probably brought in some of their internal travelers to cover the ED during the 1 day strike.  Has anyone heard whether their has been any movement on the issues at the center of the strike?  Has anyone heard whether there has been any reprisals against the strikers?

TH is ripe for unions. One of my per diem jobs is a TH site. I like the people and the job, but hardly work there anymore because they pay $50/hr less than my other sites to work HARDER with higher volumes. (that being said, I am doing a shift there later this week...). 

[Boatswain2PA]

8 hours ago, EMEDPA said:

TH is ripe for unions. One of my per diem jobs is a TH site. I like the people and the job, but hardly work there anymore because they pay $50/hr less than my other sites to work HARDER with higher volumes. (that being said, I am doing a shift there later this week...). 

Same situation here with  USUCKS, but things might be changing in that department.

 

Furthermore, USUCKS just sent out an email to everyone talking about their debt restructuring.  It was full of bull$hit like they are doing it now "because we are in a positive bond environment", etc.

Edited 6 hours ago by Boatswain2PA