Two physicians claim that they are facing retaliation from their employer, Cleveland-based University Hospitals, for their efforts to organize UH physicians, Cleveland.com reported June 24.
Lauren Beene, MD, and Valerie Fouts-Fowler, DO, both pediatricians and leaders of pro-union group Concerned UH Physicians, were placed on administrative leave last week, according to the report. Dr. Fouts-Fowler’s employment at UH was terminated June 24.
Concerned UH Physicians told Cleveland.com that the action against the physicians was “unlawful punishment” for their organizing efforts. UH told the publication that the actions against the two physicians were not related to their unionizing efforts. UH also said in the report that it received complaints from clinicians that they were receiving unwanted texts, resulting in an investigation which found that the two physicians had improperly used a proprietary UH care coordination application to contact colleagues.
“We take our commitment to our physicians seriously. However, the improper use of proprietary UH personnel data creates a risk to care coordination that we cannot tolerate,” Mike Tobin, vice president of communications at UH told Becker’s in an emailed statement. “Physicians have now expressed concern about sharing personal information, which could jeopardize the seamless care coordination UH strives to provide.”
Dr. Fouts-Fowler told the outlet that she believed the actions were punitive.
“Physicians across UH routinely use internal systems to communicate and coordinate care,” she said in the report. “There was no breach, no patient harm, yet we were abruptly placed on leave. This isn’t about an app. It’s about our leadership in organizing a better future for healthcare.”
Dr. Beene said that she would continue organizing, despite her administrative leave.
“The frontline physicians at UH, along with [those at] most other large health care systems, have really lost any form of input on anything relating to the system or healthcare over the last 10 years,” she said. “We really had no way that we could try to make things better, which is why we felt we needed to come together and collaborate so that we could truly make a difference.”
An online petition supporting the union effort has collected approximately 1,400 signatures, with many of the supporters coming from UH.
