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After a long negotiation process, resident physicians and fellows at Stanford Health Care have reached a tentative agreement on their first contract as of late last week.
The deal, which residents are describing as historic, includes a 21% increase in compensation, a $50,000 annual stipend for a “resident wellness committee,” ride-share services and a new grievance and arbitration process, according to a Dec. 11 statement. The resident physicians and fellows have been negotiating for a new agreement for 13 months, and will now present the proposal to the union’s members to ratify in the coming weeks.
David Dupee, a third-year psychiatry resident, said the new contract will help reduce financial concerns for resident physicians and fellows and help them focus their attention on their patients.
“We are proud of the precedent this sets, not only for current and future residents at Stanford but also for our colleagues unionizing and negotiating at hospitals across the nation and the patients we all serve,” he said in a release.
A spokesperson for Stanford Health said in a statement on Dec. 13 that the organization worked hard to reach an agreement that reinforces its commitment to education and clinical training for its residents and fellows.
“We are extremely appreciative of the work by both negotiating teams, and we look forward to the outcome of the vote,” the statement reads.
The residents and fellows voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR-SEIU) last May. They had been organizing since December of 2020 after protesting Stanford Health’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan which excluded residents from the first round of vaccines.
The group has also held multiple demonstrations during the negotiation process, one in July and one in August. They criticized Stanford officials for using stalling tactics during their negotiations, ignoring their needs while making a $788 million profit.