Resident physicians at the city’s public hospital system are taking aim at poor staffing in emergency, ob-gyn and surgery departments as they continue to push the mayor to improve their pay and working conditions.
More than 2,000 residents represented by the labor union Committee of Interns and Residents submitted staffing complaints to New York City Health + Hospitals on Wednesday, outlining almost 500 violations over a two-week period. The complaints allege that the public hospital system forced physician trainees to take on extra work, in part because of understaffing of positions such as phlebotomists, social workers and nurses.
Residents say they frequently pick up “out-of-title” work, which describes tasks that aren’t a part of their core duties as physicians. These tasks include drawing blood, transporting non-emergent patients and scheduling follow-up outpatient appointments for people upon discharge – jobs typically assigned to phlebotomists, technicians and social workers.
“Obviously, we’re going to do those tasks because we want our patients to get the care that they need,” said Dr. Rachel Percelay, a third-year psychiatry resident at H+H/Bellevue. But designating extra work to residents – many of whom work 80-hour weeks – takes away from their medical training and ability to provide sufficient care, she added.
Staffing violations submitted by the union spanned emergency rooms, internal medicine departments, pediatric units, labor and delivery and surgery departments, according to complaints reviewed by Crain’s. The grievances were filed against seven hospitals within the city’s public health system: Bellevue, Kings County, Jacobi, Harlem, Lincoln, Metropolitan and South Brooklyn.
Administrators at the hospitals that received complaints are required to respond to the union within 10 days. Stephanie Buhle, a spokeswoman for H+H, said that the health system and the union will address the grievances through a process that’s outlined in their contract. Union representatives and hospital administrators have the opportunity to address the complaints in a meeting; but if an agreement is not reached, the union can push for an appeal and ultimately, arbitration, according to a union spokesperson.
Percelay said the violations occur because the hospital system is “stretched thin.” Many public hospitals have struggled to hire health care workers or have outdated equipment and electronic health records. “We are the ones left filling the gaps,” she said.
Staffing grievances are residents’ latest attempt to draw attention to the lagging pay and poor working conditions at the city’s public hospital system. The Committee of Interns and Residents has been in negotiations with the city since August for a new contract, pushing for pay equity with other safety-net hospitals citywide and their first raise in more than four years.
Currently, first-year residents at H+H have a starting salary of around $70,000, on par with other safety-net hospitals, the union said. But a new contract proposal from the city’s Office of Labor Relations would put first-year resident salaries at least $5,000 behind those at peer hospitals – a gap that increases to nearly $10,000 as physicians progress further into residency.
Despite continued calls from the union and a City Council oversight hearing earlier this year blasting pay inequities and working conditions, negotiations have remained at a standstill. Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has refused to increase resident pay because of budget constraints, Percelay said. A representative from the mayor’s office referred Crain’s to H+H for comment.
Percelay said that the Adams administration has proposed a deal that would contribute additional funds to a pool of money known as the patient care trust fund, which the union allocates for hospital equipment or innovative studies and public health projects. But under that deal, the city would delay 3% pay increases to residents by another six months — a proposal that Percelay called “disrespectful.”
Sen. Jessica Ramos, chair of the labor committee who represents Queens neighborhoods including Corona, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst, said that the mayor has underfunded hospitals that serve the city’s most vulnerable populations — including at Elmhurst Hospital, which was the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“These doctors are doing their best with what they have,” Ramos told Crain’s. “The city is not helping them create an environment that is conducive to our health.”
Amanda D'Ambrosio , 2024-05-03 11:33:04
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