Nearly 400 primary care doctors at Mass General, Brigham and Women’s hospitals file to unionize

BOSTON — Citing a “crisis” in healthcare, nearly 400 primary care physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital are taking steps to unionize, a move that medical professionals are calling “historic.”

The doctors on Friday filed a union election petition with the National Labor Relations Board, Attorney Marisa Powell, lead organizer for the Doctors Council, said in a statement on Monday. The council describes itself as the country’s oldest and largest union of attending physicians.

A vote to unionize is expected within two months, Powell said. If the vote passes, the physicians would be members of Doctors Council of the Service Employees International Union, Local 10MD.

The move comes as Boston doctors are facing “the growing corporatization of healthcare, collapsing primary care patient access, and the moral injury caused by systemic challenges,” officials said in their statement. The doctors are uniting as members of the Doctors Council “to protect the future of primary care and provide the care that patients deserve.”

“I decided to become a doctor because I hoped to fix our broken healthcare system from the inside,” Dr. Elsa Imbimbo, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Internal Medical Associates, said in a statement.

“I chose primary care because it placed me at the foundation of healthcare where I can best understand and advocate for my patients. It is clear to me that by unionizing, we will have the influence we need to make meaningful changes to this professional work and improve our care for patients,” Imbimbo said.

Boston 25 reached out to Mass General Brigham for comment on the filing.

“Primary Care physicians are critical to the health of our patients and community,” a Mass General Brigham spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. “We know that PCPs across the Commonwealth are facing unprecedented volume and stress as a result of a confluence of factors that are not unique to our organization.”

“We share the common goal of offering world-class, comprehensive care for our patients and believe we can achieve this best by working together in direct partnership, rather than through representatives in a process that can lead to conflict and potentially risk the continuity of patient care,” the Mass General Brigham spokesperson said. “We are committed to continuing our dialogue with our PCPs, supporting them and their practices through this challenging time and investing in ways to reduce burden.”

The filing represents a “pivotal moment” for the field of primary care, which is “under increasing strain as administrative and financial pressures jeopardize the ability of physicians to provide comprehensive and equitable patient treatment,” officials said.

By forming a union, the primary care physicians said they “aim to collectively address these challenges, advocating for the necessary resources, staffing, and support systems that will allow them to deliver high-quality care for their patients.”

Dr. Kristen Gunning, practicing at Massachusetts General Hospital Bulfinch Medical Group, said that the institution must lead by example.

“Primary care is in crisis in Massachusetts and nationwide,” Gunning said. Mass General and Brigham Women’s Hospitals are world leaders in medicine. We are excited to collaborate with hospital leadership in leading the way to save primary care.”

By organizing with Doctors Council, the physicians “will advance the national conversation around primary care and demand a seat at the table to advocate for their practices and patients,” officials said.

“Their efforts address the urgent need to reform how health care systems operate, prioritizing patient well-being and physician support over administrative profit margins,” officials said.

“We as primary care doctors have allowed ourselves to be slowly stripped of our voice in the critical health care decision making process,” Dr. Jiani Guo, of Brigham & Women’s Faulkner Community Physicians at Hyde Park, said in a statement.

“Only with the power of collective bargaining can we push back against the rising tide of corporate interests,” Guo said. “Only through unionizing can we help to restore the soul of our profession and improve patient outcomes. Only then will our health care system move away from the destructive trajectory of profit-driven models and rise up as truly the leader in health care.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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