But Steve Safyer, MD, Montefiore's senior vice president and chief medical officer, said the hospital complies with all rules required of it by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the national residency program accrediting body. Dr. Safyer added that most residents are happy with their work and educational environment. We don't embrace unionization. We are very strong on creating the best educational environment possible and making sure patients get the best quality care. I believe we already have a process here that has residents in traditional hospital committees and involved in resident work groups.
Unions only interfere with the process.
Although the AMA is assisting residents in forming housestaff associations at several teaching hospitals, including Montefiore, residents who wish to form collective bargaining units also have the option to contact PRN for assistance, Dr. Adelman said. But CIR's Levy and Dr. Cervanka said the organizations were difficult to maintain because residents had little time to train replacements. You need to bring in someone to keep records and who has the institutional memory and resources to keep things going. The practical matter is that IHOs will become unions if there is a need to be. Back to top.