DULUTH — About 415 advanced practice providers in Essentia’s East Market voted to join the Minnesota Nurses Association. Essentia Health plans to challenge the decision with an appeal to the National Labor Relations Board. The results of the election vote to unionize were announced during a news conference Tuesday.
The Essentia East Market extends from Brainerd north to International Falls and east to Ashland and Hayworth in Wisconsin. Its nurse practitioners, physician associates, nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists have been organizing for months. These providers offer primary, surgical and specialty care at hospitals and clinics in many rural communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
ADVERTISEMENT According to a news release from the MNA, the health care workers wanted to unionize to have a stronger voice in addressing workplace issues such as better compensation, work/life balance and patient loads. According to Essentia, the health system has doubled its number of advanced practice providers and invested in their education and training over the past decade. “Our commitment to these providers is reflected in a current turnover rate of 6.
5%, which is significantly lower than the national average of 11%,” Essentia stated. “On average, APP pay has increased 5.3% per year or 21.
2% over the past four years. Essentia’s APP pay range is $110,000-$185,500.” The providers filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov.
27 to be represented as a single bargaining unit. In February, Essentia and the MNA participated in a National Labor Relations Board hearing where the health system questioned whether MNA’s proposed bargaining unit complied with the board’s Health Care Rule, which separates hospital and clinic staff for the purposes of collective bargaining. The board's regional director decided the petition would proceed to an election as a single bargaining unit, and mailed ballots were counted Tuesday.
“We view this as a major departure from the NLRB’s long-standing application of its own Health Care Rule and years of case law,” Essentia said of the decision to proceed. In response, Essentia said it would seek an appeal of the regional director’s election decision. ADVERTISEMENT Essentia continues to take the stance that unionization and collective bargaining covering professional providers are largely new and untested, and expressed a preference to work directly with providers to benefit patient care.
“We are disappointed in this outcome as we continue to believe that unionization of our professional advanced practice providers is not in the best interests of our patients or our staff,” Tonya Loken, Essentia’s community relations director, said in a statement. “A single bargaining unit that includes a wide range of settings, specialties and locations may not allow for unique approaches to caring for the different needs of patients.” Nationwide, health care systems like Essentia are facing rising costs, workforce shortages and reduced reimbursement rates.
“We are fortunate to have many talented nurse practitioners and physician assistants on our care teams at Essentia. They are highly skilled professionals who provide important access to excellent care for our patients,” Loken said. “At Essentia, our patients and protecting access to care are at the heart of our decisions.
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