Doctors Council

For inquiries contact: Josh Keller - jkeller@seiumn.org

For Immediate Release

‍Hundreds of Allina Providers Who Are Members of Doctors Council Call for Action from Allina Board Following Delayed Care, Loss of Services From Clinical Lab Switch to Quest Diagnostics

MINNESOTA – Hundreds of members of the Doctors Council at Allina Health, a group who won their historic union election in October of 2023, are demanding action from the Allina Board of Directors surrounding a recent change in which Alllina outsourced the clinical lab to Quest Diagnostics.

The change announced in July was met with concern from members of the Doctors Council, who spoke out about the latest shift in lab services which moves away from prioritizing patients and towards the company’s bottom line.

The transition officially happened on Monday, September 16th. The Providers (MD, NP, PAs)  with the Doctors Council immediately began sharing stories of the negative impact on patient care. A week after the changes were implemented, it became clear that the issues are not solely logistics of a rollout, but rather, the new reality for patients and healthcare workers.

Britta Kasmarik, a Nurse Practitioner at Allina Health Bloomington and member of the Doctors Council, shared why many Providers are concerned about what this means for patient care:

“This change has compromised our ability as providers to deliver high quality care to our patients and their families. This change has prevented providers from being able to order labs that are pertinent to appropriately evaluating and treating our patients. This has resulted in providers having no other choice but to send patients to Urgency Rooms (UR) or Emergency Rooms (ER), which subjects them to higher healthcare bills and long wait times just for our patients to receive basic care that all healthcare facilities should be able to deliver. This also brings future concern for overburdening our ER’s, especially in coming months due to the closely approaching cold and flu season when ER’s see some of their highest patient volumes of the year.”

The call for the Board includes three main issues that need to be addressed:

• Delayed Access to Care
• Eliminated Services and Delayed Lab Results
• Increased Cost of Care

Concerns have been raised to Allina leaders by members of the Doctors Council, but union members are speaking out and demanding answers from the Board of Directors who run the hospital in hopes of seeing change that ensures patients can get the care and support they need when they visit Allina.

Cora Walsh, a Family Doctor at Allina Health West St. Paul and member of the Doctors Council, spoke out about the need for a real plan from Allina leaders to address these issues to ensure Allina patients can get the care they deserve:

“We no longer have on site some of the critical point of care testing we relied on previously. We need restoration of immediate lab results (such as a complete blood count) for timely assessment of certain acute medical issues. We need assurance that patients will not bear an increased cost of care for these services. We also need a better plan to ensure timely results are available from Quest for clinical decision making.”

Beth Gunhus, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Allina Health Inver Grove Heights and member of the Doctors Council, shared why the group remains united to win the changes needed to ensure Allina provides the best care possible for our patients:

“The team of Allina Providers who promote Medical Care to our community are crucial to the health of our families and neighbors. We know that unionization helps strengthen and protect this crucial group of medical professionals as well as the patients and communities they serve.”

The outsourcing of clinical labs is not an issue that can be dealt with at the bargaining table, but the two sides remain engaged in bargaining for the first union contract for these workers. Bargaining has been going on for six months, with two sessions happening just this week. Doctors Council members remain committed to winning a contract that allows them a strong voice in workplace decisions so they can have the tools they need to provide world-class care to their patients.

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