Resident physicians at Howard University Hospital are
pushing to begin labor negotiations after the National Labor Relations Board
dismissed a challenge from the university this week that sought to prevent
staff from organizing.
Earlier this year, the hospital's residents voted to form
a union, citing concerns about pay, training and workforce quality issues.
Those workforce quality issues included losing parking for a time, new rules
regarding meals during a 24-hour shifts, including cutting back on the number
of drinks they received.
Organizers also said they are trying to gain a greater
voice as the hospital works with an operating partner to turn around its
financial concerns. "We want to establish a true partnership with the
hospital as we walk through this restructuring process at Howard," Dr.
Hakeem Ayinde, an internal medicine resident at Howard said in a statement.
Howard University Hospital posted a $58 million loss in
fiscal year 2014, which ended last June. It hired Paladin Healthcare Capital in
October to take over day-to-day operations to improve its financial outlook.
Earlier this year, the hospital confirmed layoffs of 25 management and
supervisory employees and eight certified nurse anesthetists but preserved a
number of additional nursing jobs by moving employees to other departments.
Howard University officials have two weeks to appeal the
NLRB's decision. They did not return requests for comment on the matter.
Source: Washington
Business Journal
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