Medical providers at St. Charles Medical Group have agreed to work with St. Charles Health System and withdraw their petition before the National Labor Relations Board to form a union.
A letter withdrawing the request to form a union was filed with the NLRB just days ahead of when ballots would be mailed out to members of the medical group. A mail-in election that would have determined if members wanted to be represented by the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO was to begin Thursday and conclude March 23, according to documents on file at the National Labor Relations Board.
The medical group, which works for St. Charles Health System, called itself the Central Oregon Providers Network. The group had initially filed a petition for union representation in June. The group refiled in August to restate its support after the health system alleged that some members were in fact supervisors and were ineligible for membership.
The group of doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health care workers said it had many issues with the hospital management that remained to be settled, the medical group said in a prepared statement through a union representative. One of those is the assertion that wages and benefits needed to be increased to attract talent to Central Oregon.
About 300 medical professionals had pledged support for the union as a way to be included in the health care discussions on patient care.
The hospital system has already changed the leadership to address provider concerns, and is working to address other concerns, according to a hospital statement.
“Our intention is to right the ship,” Dr. Mark Hallett, St. Charles Health System chief clinical officer, said in a telephone interview. “This has been a huge challenge for all concerned, and I would much rather use this as a reset so we can move forward collaboratively.”
The group of health care providers initially said that it was not seeking unionization to receive higher pay or better benefits, but to ensure, through collective bargaining that provider opinions were being heard when it came to delivering patient care.
“The act of union formation did start a conversation that was needed in the health care system,” said Dr. Michael Wahl, a radiation oncologist at the St. Charles Cancer Center, in a phone interview. “I think the new leadership at St. Charles has been receptive of the issues that have been brought to the forefront by the union.”
By canceling the unionizing effort, the hospital system and the medical group have time to solve the issues collaboratively, Hallett said.
“That’s our preferred route,” Hallett said. “We’ve heard that both compensation and contracting are the top priorities and taking action on these by working with the American Medical group consulting arm to help us with developing a compensation plan that is best practices.”
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Suzanne Roig has been a reporter with The Bulletin since 2018 covering business and health in the region. When she's not working she enjoys taking her dog Pono out on hikes.
Hopefully St. Charles will follow through with a more collaborative management style that benefits their employees and customers.
I have owned and managed a business for 25 years. I constantly compare my experiences with experiences of other businesses, large and small, technical and nontechnical. There are a few common management strategies that will ensure success of a business, its owners, and its employees, while providing the best services or products for its customers. They are:
1. There are no unskilled workers. If a worker is unskilled, it is management’s fault.
2. Management’s primary goal should be to develop a good team, as individuals and as a group, for the betterment of the employees and in turn to provide the best services or products to its customers.
3. Seek employees’ opinions on all relevant issues. Employees are the ones working “on the ground” every day and they see directly what works and what doesn’t. Unilateral decisions by management that don’t go well will be mocked by the employees. On the other hand, decisions where employees have a say, but don’t turn out well, are acknowledged by them and alternative solutions are offered to fix things.
4. When employees are constantly invited to be part of the solution, they will confidently offer solutions, they will solve problems, and they will be loyal to the business.
5. If the above things are done, the business will thrive, and profit will take care of itself. In short, effective employees and loyalty always result in the best services or products, and profit is ensured.
Feel free to replace the word “employees” with “team members”, but a name is hollow unless it is true.
True, they are apparently asking for increased wages, but also are negotiating working conditions. Is it impossible to negotiate for both? Is it possible they prioritized working conditions over wages?
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(3) comments
Hopefully St. Charles will follow through with a more collaborative management style that benefits their employees and customers.
I have owned and managed a business for 25 years. I constantly compare my experiences with experiences of other businesses, large and small, technical and nontechnical. There are a few common management strategies that will ensure success of a business, its owners, and its employees, while providing the best services or products for its customers. They are:
1. There are no unskilled workers. If a worker is unskilled, it is management’s fault.
2. Management’s primary goal should be to develop a good team, as individuals and as a group, for the betterment of the employees and in turn to provide the best services or products to its customers.
3. Seek employees’ opinions on all relevant issues. Employees are the ones working “on the ground” every day and they see directly what works and what doesn’t. Unilateral decisions by management that don’t go well will be mocked by the employees. On the other hand, decisions where employees have a say, but don’t turn out well, are acknowledged by them and alternative solutions are offered to fix things.
4. When employees are constantly invited to be part of the solution, they will confidently offer solutions, they will solve problems, and they will be loyal to the business.
5. If the above things are done, the business will thrive, and profit will take care of itself. In short, effective employees and loyalty always result in the best services or products, and profit is ensured.
Feel free to replace the word “employees” with “team members”, but a name is hollow unless it is true.
After claiming this was purely about concerns of inadequate patient care, it was just about money after all.
True, they are apparently asking for increased wages, but also are negotiating working conditions. Is it impossible to negotiate for both? Is it possible they prioritized working conditions over wages?
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.