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Q&A
Inquiry about strike contingency plans and doctors' grievances
2:24:45
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Council Member De La Rosa inquires about strike contingency plans and the existence of a strike fund. Dr. Frances Quee, President of Doctors Council SEIU, responds by explaining the doctors' position and grievances.
- Doctors have traditionally not considered striking, but have reached a breaking point
- There is no established strike fund, but discussions are ongoing
- The union has agreed to suspend strike plans while negotiations continue
- Dr. Quee highlights issues such as understaffing, increased workload, and lack of compensation for long-serving doctors
- The response emphasizes the doctors' commitment to patient care despite challenging working conditions
Carmen N. De La Rosa
2:24:45
Thank you for shedding some light.
2:24:46
And then I have a question from madam president.
2:24:48
My question to you is, doctor Katz testified regarding contingency plans if a strike does happen.
2:24:56
And, obviously, I think all of us across the border hoping that a strike can be averted.
2:25:00
But one question that I do have is, doctor Katz mentioned uncertainty about a strike fund.
2:25:08
Does one exist?
2:25:09
Is there plans for that?
2:25:10
And, what is your take on, adequacy of contingency plans should a strike occur?
Dr. Frances Quee
2:25:18
So we are physicians, and I don't think strike has ever been in our dictionary or in our minds.
2:25:24
We're just trained to take care of patients.
2:25:26
But it got to a breaking point that people could not take it anymore.
2:25:30
Other Unions that are always going on strike, of course, have a strike fund.
2:25:34
This is something we have discussed among ourselves.
2:25:37
I agree with Doctor.
2:25:38
Katz.
2:25:38
We had, agreed to suspend the strike since negotiations are going on at this time.
2:25:44
But at this point, people are still organizing.
2:25:49
That's how pissed people are.
2:25:53
We just feel undervalued.
2:25:56
The doctors who have stayed in this system for many years are not getting compensated.
2:26:02
I, myself, had 2 children.
2:26:04
I had to do a second job to take care of my family.
2:26:07
So, we are not here to be rich, but we just want those of us who have been in the system for a longer period of time that are aging out.
2:26:15
Once we leave, we want other people to replace us, but nobody's coming.
2:26:19
I understand, doctor Katz, they've been putting ads, but nobody's showing up.
2:26:22
So, after a couple of ads, they just remove that line.
2:26:25
So, if you are 6 in a department and you are now 3, after so many ads and that those lines go away.
2:26:32
So it seems like you are not understaffed because there's no vacancy, but you're still 3.
2:26:38
So, he said there are 8 patients or 6 patients in a in in a in a half a day.
2:26:44
No.
2:26:44
There are 10 to 12 patients that are scheduled even with the 20 minutes now.
2:26:49
So, it is kind of a little difficult.
2:26:53
I understand, so, health and hospital without even discussing with the doctors unilaterally just went ahead with their 20 40 minutes to 20 minutes, change of time.
2:27:04
I know we're working for them, but at the same time we are the ones who are in the front line.
2:27:08
It would have been nice to explain things so that we can all come to a decision.
2:27:14
Doctor Katz said they are hiring PAs and nurse practitioners.
2:27:17
It's been 3 months and we had a town hall meeting with him in December.
2:27:22
And I told him I have not seen any NPs or PAs hired yet.
2:27:26
And, they told us where we are putting ads.
2:27:29
So, we are still doing the same work and even more.
2:27:32
Prior authorization I just did 2 of them on Wednesday myself.
2:27:37
Because I don't know who to ask.
2:27:39
I mean I know they said there's somebody to ask.
2:27:41
I can't put work on the nurses.
2:27:42
The nurses are also burnt out.
2:27:44
I mean I am not just being thinking of the doctors.
2:27:48
I'm thinking of the nurses.
2:27:49
I'm thinking of the clerical staff, the PCAs.
2:27:52
Everybody's burnt out.
2:27:52
So I'm not gonna give somebody else the work that I'm supposed to do.
2:27:56
So I don't know.
2:27:57
I know the the administrators who made the decision.
2:28:00
Of course, most of them see patients but they see half a day patients.
2:28:04
And when they come in, they have a whole nurse.
2:28:06
They have a whole PCA.
2:28:07
So you can really not understand what the rest of the doctors go through.
2:28:11
So the the amount of patients on the on the schedule is not 8 or 6 as doctor Katz said.
2:28:16
It's more than that.
2:28:18
And then if you don't if you have a no show they add more.
2:28:22
So, like Doctor, Dios said, you have like 4 new patients and you're rushing through them.
2:28:28
We have language barriers.
2:28:30
There are some of us who can go through a little bit of Spanish, thank God.
2:28:34
But there are other languages as well.
2:28:36
So, if you have a lot of patience and if with the epic there's so much more work to do, administrative work.
2:28:43
All of that has been done by us.
2:28:45
The patients just sit in their, you know, sit on their bed and they send you a message and they expect you to respond in a couple of hours which we're supposed to do and we're doing.
2:28:53
But that just brings more work onto us and more burnout.
2:28:57
So if you open the epic on your schedule, you already see all the patients that you have.
2:29:03
So whenever somebody checks in or somebody's registered, you know.
2:29:06
So now you're feeling pressure.
2:29:07
You're only on number 2 because there are 2 new patients.
2:29:10
And you have like 6 people waiting for you.
2:29:13
We don't want people to make mistakes.
2:29:14
This is not why we're here.
2:29:16
We're here to see patients, give them the dignity they want, and they deserve.
2:29:23
And also, we also wanna be safe in practicing.
2:29:26
So we're kind of rushing, and we don't even finish our administrative work.
2:29:31
We take it home.
2:29:32
We go home and we're still writing notes.
2:29:34
This is not good for life quality with your with your family.
2:29:38
You go home, you don't even have time to talk to your your kids or your husband.
2:29:42
You're busy typing notes because you have to finish.
2:29:44
We have a deadline.
2:29:45
You have to write your notes.
2:29:46
48 to 72 hours.
2:29:48
So there's just so much burnouts like Doctor.
2:29:50
Goldstein said.
2:29:51
We did a survey with the primary care doctors before we had the second town hall meeting with Doctor.
2:29:57
Katz.
2:29:57
We've had 2 with him.
2:29:59
And a lot of the doctors are just saying this is not just for me.
2:30:02
I understand there's primary care shot.
2:30:04
I told Doctor.
2:30:05
Katz and he's aware of it.
2:30:07
Let us not let the people who have invested all this time in our system leave.
2:30:13
They're looking for people everywhere.
2:30:15
I know people say, so why don't you just go look for another job?
2:30:18
This is where we want to be.
2:30:19
We want to take care of the people who nobody wants to take care of.
2:30:22
So that's the mission we're here for.
Carmen N. De La Rosa
2:30:25
Thank you for your insights, Chip.