Patient Safety | 06.24.24
Detroit ER Docs Must Re-Apply for Their Own Jobs After Controversial Staffing Company Fired
by NAMSS Staff
Michigan Public Radio (06/19/24) Wells, Kate
Last June, the emergency room doctors at Ascension St. John in Detroit were surprised when they learned on a Zoom call that TeamHealth, the national physician staffing company, lost its contract with Ascension. A new company, Independent Emergency Physicians, took over. The ER doctors, who unionized last year and held a one-day strike two months ago as they negotiated with TeamHealth for a new contract, suddenly learned they would need to reapply for their own jobs. Most, though, were not sorry to see the change in staffing firms. With the rise in healthcare consolidation, many of the major staffing companies are now backed by private equity, and it's led doctors to feel "like we're being bought and sold like cattle," said Dr. Michelle Wiener, one of the ER doctors at Ascension St. John. She said TeamHealth reduced staffing levels, with patients sometimes having to wait 15 hours or more to get care.
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