Dr. Neha Ravi is one of about 300 unionized resident physicians and fellows working at Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals in Queens who say they’re being left with no option but to strike if their demands are not met in the coming weeks.

“We didn’t go to medical school and go through all this training to then go on strike and leave our patients,” Dr. Ravi, a first-year resident at Jamaica Hospital, said.

What You Need To Know

  • About 300 unionized resident physicians and fellows working at Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals in Queens say they’re being left with no option but to strike if their demands are not met in the coming weeks

  • The group has been in negotiation talks with their employer MediSys Heath Network since October of last year

  • Demands include livable wage, adequate resources to limit patient loads and enforceable processes so they can spend more time with patients
  • According to the union CIR/SEIU, 93% of voting physicians voted in favor of authorizing this strike. with 79% of eligible CIR members voting

The group has been in negotiation talks with their employer, MediSys Health Network, since October of last year. One of their demands is for a livable wage, given the hours they say they put in.

“Residents at our hospital work 80 hours plus per week and when you look at our annual wage that’s about $15 to $18 an hour, so imagine trying to take care of a family,” said Dr. Ravi. 

They’re also demanding adequate resources to limit patient loads and enforceable processes so they can spend more time with patients.

"If you have 10 patients and you’re working 80 hours a week, you can imagine how much time you have per patient,” she said. “But if you split that time—that same amount of time between 20, 30, 40, 50, maybe more than that, patients—you can imagine how fractured that time is.”

On top of that, she said first-year residents like herself are also faced with doing the jobs of other providers. 

"Drawing blood, placing IVs, these are things that are not typically in the doctor’s job description. There’s other medical professionals who help with that, but when we don’t have access to that, or we’re if we don’t do it than no one is going to do it, then we’ll do it,” Dr. Ravi said.

According to the union CIR/SEIU, 93% of voting physicians voted in favor of authorizing this strike, with 79% of eligible CIR members voting. If demands are not addressed, the group plans on striking for three days: from May 15 to May 17.

“There’s nothing more important to a doctor than taking care of patients, so health systems need to be aware of that and realize that doctors will fight back,” said Dr. Ravi.

A spokesperson with MediSys Health Network said negotiations are ongoing.