Allina Health doctors plan to strike Nov. 5

Primary care nurses, physicians and physician assistants at 61 Allina Health clinics may go on strike next month if an agreement is not reached in the next two bargaining sessions.

During a press conference on Friday, members of the SEIU Board of Physicians announced plans for a one-day strike on November 5. The sit-in will take place at Allina clinics located in Coon Rapids, Richfield and West St. Paul. Union members said this could be the largest strike of its kind in US history and the first for doctors in Minnesota.

Negotiating sessions are scheduled to be held on October 29 and November 3, before the planned strike.

The 600-member Minnesota Physicians Board unionized in 2023 and is negotiating with Allina Health its first contract since February 2024, with some tentative agreements reached.

“Even after 20 months of bargaining, Allina refuses to compromise on safe staffing levels in our clinics,” said Dr. Matt Hoffman, a family physician at Allina Vadnais Heights Clinic. “They refuse to compromise on things we consider basic contract terms like health care, retirement and sick leave.”

Union members also expressed concerns about the proposed wage cuts and expressed a desire to avoid a strike to secure a contract with Allina Health, but felt they had no choice but to announce their intention to strike.

“We love taking care of our patients, but we’ve seen a lot of our colleagues leave primary care,” Hoffman said. “We have seen too many of our colleagues feeling burned out, cutting back on their hours, and not being able to care for as many patients as they could. We cannot allow this cycle to continue.”

Alina Heath said in a statement that patient care remains her top priority, and the goal is to minimize disruptions to patients during the one-day strike. A union spokesman wrote that the union’s demands for significant wage increases and its benefits proposals are not “realistic or sustainable.”

“Given the rising costs of health care insurance, ongoing financial challenges for health care providers, and expected reductions in reimbursements and programs like Medicaid, we cannot agree to a contract that would add significant new costs and would undermine our ability to operate and serve the community,” the spokesperson wrote.

During the negotiation negotiations, the Physicians Council proposed minimum staffing levels for clinical assistants and nurses to ensure adequate support for daily clinical care.

Dr. Cora Walsh, a family physician at Allina West St. Paul Clinic, said patients often wait more than an hour after seeing their provider to have their labs drawn due to staffing shortages, or are sent to emergency rooms for lab work because Allina It transferred most of its clinic laboratory work to Quest Diagnostics, a for-profit company.

Walsh added that Alina did not address their proposals aimed at protecting doctors’ time for administrative work, which often extends into the evening hours.

Dr. Nick Venusdale, a pediatrician at the Allina Hastings Clinic, said his colleagues feel “desperate” and “frustrated” daily. He emphasized that primary care is about building relationships with patients, and many doctors leave their positions or retire early due to exhaustion and moral conflict with their responsibilities.

“There’s a reason you might only have to wait a month or two to see your primary care doctor,” Venosdale said. “We don’t have enough doctors and health care providers.”

Allina Health plans to close four of its clinics in the Twin Cities metro area on Nov. 1 due to patient preferences and to improve efficiency across its clinics. Another clinic in Chaska will close in February.

Earlier this year, Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis Stop performing kidney transplantsIn February, Allina’s chemical dependency unit at Mercy Hospital in Fridley will close, with services moved elsewhere.

Union members said they chose to strike for one day to minimize the impact on patient care.

“Our hope is that through these sessions, Alina will come to the table and work with us to come to a fair contract that will actually improve primary care,” Hoffman said.