Jefferson resident physicians vote to unionize

Resident physicians and fellows at Jefferson Health have voted to unionize, becoming the third group of physicians-in-training to join a union in the Philadelphia area in recent weeks.

The vote, taken Monday night, was 552-73 in favor of joining the Committee of Interns and Residents, a division of the Service Employees International Union.

In voting to unionize, Jefferson residents at more than 25 health-care facilities around the region followed trainee physicians at Einstein Healthcare Network, which is also owned by Jefferson, and Temple University Hospital. Residents and fellows at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia narrowly rejected a bid to unionize in late December by 17 votes.

Trishya Srinivasan, a second-year internal medicine resident at Jefferson who helped organize the union vote, said residents who voted to unionize are “absolutely ecstatic.” About 73% of residents at Jefferson participated in the vote, she said.

“We’re ready to hit the ground running and get to the bargaining table” to secure a contract, she said.

Jefferson Health officials said in a statement they respected the residents’ decision to unionize and are “committed to maintaining an environment of exceptional medical training, open communication, and collaboration to ensure the success and well-being of our residents as we deliver outstanding patient care.”

The residents had announced plans to unionize in November, along with several other hospitals in the Philadelphia area. Residents in two other divisions at Temple Health and ChristianaCare in Delaware are also voting on unionization this week.

The move follows a national trend of physicians unionizing around the country and in Philadelphia. Residents at Penn Medicine and the Rutgers University health system have both formed unions and reached contracts with their health systems in recent years, and attending physicians at ChristianaCare voted to unionize last summer.

With the Jefferson vote, 80.6% of Philadelphia’s 4,350 residents and fellows are now represented by the union, a CIR spokesperson said.

On average, residents are paid relatively little compared to other professions that require specialized training, making about $61,000 a year and working up to 80-hour weeks.

Union representatives said in a statement that “widespread burnout and financial hardship” had driven Jefferson residents to unionize, adding that the residents felt they had “little say in decisions that directly impact both their working conditions and patient care.”

Srinivasan said that Jefferson residents “felt the momentum” after Einstein and Temple residents voted to unionize. The close loss at CHOP, she said, also motivated residents.

“It lit a bit of a fire on the organizing committee here, including residents that weren’t on the organizing committee, that it’s important for all of us to show up,” she said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from Jefferson Health.