Members of Doctors Council-SEIU began a four-day strike Sept. 14 at Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital campuses in Coon Rapids, Minn., and Fridley, Minn., according to a union news release shared with Becker’s. Hospice nurses represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa began a separate seven-day strike Sept. 11 to run through Sept. 17, according to a post on Facebook.
Five things to know:
1. Doctors Council represents more than 150 physicians across both Mercy campuses in a single bargaining unit, including hospitalists, OB-GYNs, psychiatrists and critical care physicians. The group filed a strike notice earlier this month. The hospice unit includes more than 60 nurses who provide care in homes, assisted living communities and skilled nursing facilities across the Twin Cities metro area, according to SEIU.
2. Both groups are bargaining first contracts with Minneapolis-based Allina Health, which has 27,865 care team members and 6,700 providers, according to its website.
3. The physicians voted in June to authorize their strike, with 91% support. Their last scheduled session ended Sept. 9 without an agreement, and an additional session held Sept. 13 through a mediator also ended without a deal, according to the union. The hospice nurses voted unanimously Aug. 21 to authorize their strike after more than a year of talks and an earlier one-day strike.
4. The physicians contend they have bargained for three years without reaching agreement on provisions including paid sick days and a greater say in patient care. “We have been left with no choice but to strike,” Alia Sharif, MD, an internal medicine physician at the two campuses and a member of the Doctors Council bargaining team, said in the release. “We made this decision with great trepidation.” The hospice nurses are seeking compensation for additional hours worked, holiday pay and scheduling changes.
5. Allina Health said in a statement that it is committed to reaching agreements that provide competitive compensation and benefits, while acting responsibly on first contracts “that will have a lasting impact on the cost and availability of care in the community.” The system said both Mercy campuses will continue normal operations and that it is using licensed and contract nurses to maintain continuity for hospice patients. It said Doctors Council represents about 10% of physicians credentialed at the two campuses and that fewer than 4% of Mercy medical staff will strike. Allina Health also said about 90% of its hospice reimbursement comes from Medicare, which finalized a 2.3% payment increase for hospice care for 2027.
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