By James DeWeese
The 230-plus doctors who will be represented by the Doctors Council in contract negotiations a year and a half from now will remain members of the Attending Physicians Association, an independent union at Elmhurst Hospital that has been established for many years. But organizers said the affiliation with a larger organization, which was approved in an 82-1 vote on Jan. 27, will give doctors more leverage to negotiate contracts and labor issues while freeing them up to concentrate more fully on their patients. “We've been an independent union here for years – it's one of the oldest doctors' unions in the country – and it just became too much of a burden for us to take care of the union and do our jobs effectively,” said Dr. Nina Caplin, president of the APA, which was founded in 1970, and a physician at Elmhurst for six years. “We thought this was one of the ways to help us take care of our contracts as well as to give us time to work with our patients.” Doctors Council represents staff physicians at more than 40 public and private hospitals throughout the city, as well as doctors in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Illinois. The hospitals include Elmhurst's sister institution, Queens Hospital Center, where 110 attending physicians also are represented by the union. Officials from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, which hires doctors at the two Queens facilities under contract from the city's Health and Hospitals Corp., could not be reached for comment. But Dario Centorcelli, a spokesman for Elmhurst Hospital, said he did not anticipate any major changes under the new system. Caplin said the move to a new union did not reflect any major staffing issues at Elmhurst, one of the city's busiest public hospital. In 2004, , the hospital saw more than 700,000 ambulatory care visits, Elmhurst spokesman Dario Centorcellia said. “Obviously a union in any facility is only as strong as the number of doctors represented,” Doctors Council Executive Director Frank Proscia said. “Being affiliated with a national union gives you a bit more strength.” As a matter of course, Proscia said, the union flexes its muscle in a bid to improve patient care. In recent years, medicine has become increasingly focused on a business model that promotes efficiency above the time between a patient and physician, Proscia said. He did not say this was the case at Elmhurst. “Our primary goal has to do with patient care,” Proscia said. “Regardless of what people think of unions, doctors will forgo wages. Patient care is primary.' Reach reporter James DeWeese by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157. On the Web: Doctors Council – www.doctorscouncil.com New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. – www.nyc.gov/hhc
