The Latest in Critical Care, 12.5.24

Cardiology and neurocritical care updates etc

Physician Unionization

About 400 primary care physicians at Mass General Brigham announced their intent to unionize after failed negotiations over working conditions doctors described to CBS News as “impossible” and “unsustainable.” They cited inadequate support to care for too many complex, severely chronically ill patients.

“The specialists can't do what the specialists do, their endoscopies, their knee replacements, all the things that make a lot of money for the hospital without the primary care doctors," Dr. Peter Grinspoon told CBS News.

Good point, Dr. Grinspoon.

Mass General’s PR flacks stoked fear of physician strikes in its public statement, warning [worried face] that unionization could “potentially risk the continuity of patient care.” Physicians claimed MGB has become “financialized” and has not responded to their concerns in good faith.

A vote to unionize could come in the next two months, according to the Boston Globe. The union (if successful) would be a part of the Doctors Council Union, the oldest and largest union of physicians in the U.S.

The MGB petition is the latest in a string of physician unionization efforts, which we are covering here:

Primary care physicians at Mass General Brigham petition to unionize