Last October a large group of primary care physicians at Mass General Brigham hospitals announced they would unionize. MGB rapidly ended up opposing the formation of a union.
Forming a Doctors Council
The union, called a Doctors Council, published its rationale and mission statement, with which I wholly agree:
“ We take pride in our profession as primary care physicians. We will not allow the corporatization of medicine to undermine the delivery of comprehensive and equitable primary care. We are unionizing with Doctors Council to rescue our profession and provide the care that all patients deserve.
As union physicians, we will collaborate with our hospitals to ensure robust, well-resourced teams, improve retention, and eliminate burnout. Better physician working conditions are necessary for better patient outcomes. We strive to create joy in practice to provide outstanding care for our patients.
Primary care is the foundation of our health system. [my emphasis] With our collective voice and power, we will make primary care the best job in medicine.”
Primary Care Underresourced for Decades
Employed primary care physicians have had inadequate staff support and inadequate salaries for at least three decades, at the same time being tasked with patient panels that were unmanageable in any normal workweek. Those physicians who were self-employed largely ended up similarly undersupported and underpaid because the chronically low reimbursement schedules for primary care services, totally controlled by the public and private insurers, were never meaningfully updated.
I am hopeful that union organization will eventually lead to substantially more money going into primary care practices to allow for more staff, few patients in a physicians panel, and primary care physician pay that is comparable to specialists. Certainly the work of the primary care physician requires every bit the expertise and commitment of any specialty. Had I not been able to form my membership practice, Orchard Health Care, in 2006, I would certainly be joining this group.