After months of unsuccessful contract talks, the Greater Detroit Association of ER Physicians, the union representing the physicians and physician assistants at Ascension St. John, has voted to go on strike.
They filed their 10-day strike notice with the hospital Monday (April 8).
Ascension St. John contracts out for its ER services through TeamHealth based in Knoxville. Michigan’s congressional delegation is showing its support for the union.
Senator Gary Peters sent a letter to TeamHealth’s CEO demanding to see financial data
Congressman Shri Thanedar went to the hospital Monday to show his support in person.
The physicians union says there are many issues but three major bones of contention. Number one is staffing.
“We don’t have enough trained bodies for the patient population that comes through our ER,” said Dr. John Bahling. “Number two are patient safety issues.”
Three is how the doctors and PAs are treated. None of them ever thought they’d join a union or authorize a strike.
“This is not how we thought this was going to go we wanted to avoid this at all costs but we’re left with no other choice,” said PA Casey Kolp.
In response, TeamHealth sent us the statement below.
“TeamHealth has received official notice that clinicians affiliated with the Greater Detroit Association of Emergency Physicians will go on strike for 24 hours, beginning April 18. Patients needing critical emergency care during this time should continue to come to the emergency department at Ascension St. John Hospital. We expect to keep the emergency department fully staffed and day-to-day operations will not be interrupted.
TeamHealth’s top priorities are delivering high-quality patient care and supporting our frontline clinicians, as they care for our communities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. TeamHealth has provided clinicians with support and resources for over 40 years to deliver high-quality patient care, even in the face of material reimbursement pressure from private insurers and Medicare.
We have negotiated in good faith with the union, and any statement to the contrary is false. We invite the union’s leadership to return to the bargaining table and secure a resolution on reasonable and sustainable terms.”
TeamHealth
TeamHealth said the union made several public claims that were unequivocally false, and they wanted to use the forum to correct the record.
- Keeping Emergency Care Wait Times Low: Every second matters in an emergency, and TeamHealth is committed to ensuring patients receive care as quickly as possible. The median door-to-doctor time at Ascension St. John Emergency Department in 2023 was 25 minutes. In 2024, wait times dropped to 17 minutes, far less than the 10 to 15 hours the union claims.
- Fully Staffing the Emergency Department: The Ascension St. John emergency department is fully staffed today.
- Doctors Make the Crucial Care Decisions: TeamHealth always puts patient care and clinician wellbeing first, regardless of our ownership model. Every dollar in capital that we generate at TeamHealth stays in TeamHealth. Doctors, and no one else, make decisions in the best interest of patient care.
The Greater Detroit Association of ER Physicians said they dispute TeamHealth’s assessment of the ER situation at Ascension St. John.
“We don’t got to medical school to form unions,” Dr. Michelle Wiener said. “We do go to medical school to advocate for patients, and this is 100% what we’re doing here.”