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Biotech / Medical : HRC HEALTHSOUTH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tunica Albuginea who wrote (52)	11/30/1999 5:13:00 PM
From: Tunica Albuginea	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 181

Labor Board Rules Medical Interns are Employees, Can Join Unions ( Translation: Medical costs to skyrocket.) HMOs pricing power to weaken. HMOs weaken. Not teaching Hospitals will have bigger pricing power. Private health care to do better. HRC finds itself more in the latter non-intern teaching environment. Favorable. TA interactive.wsj.com November 30, 1999 Labor Board Rules Medical Interns Are Employees, Can Join Unions By GLENN BURKINS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- The National Labor Relations Board ruled that medical interns and residents who work in private hospitals are employees, not students, and are thus eligible to join labor unions. The decision, issued last week by the NLRB and made public Monday, overturns a 1976 labor-board ruling that declared medical interns, residents and fellows are students. Interns and residents who work in public-sector hospitals already were permitted to join unions under various state laws. The labor board's latest ruling could have a significant impact on labor relations in some of the nation's largest hospitals. According to a filing with the labor board, the U.S. has about 100,000 interns, residents and fellows in about 7,500 accredited programs at more than 1,100 medical institutions. If the labor board's ruling stands, tens of thousands of those medical professionals would for the first time be eligible to join unions to negotiate over salaries and working conditions. The latest case springs from a 1997 dispute in which a Boston group called the Committee of Interns and Residents attempted to organize about 430 medical professionals at Boston Medical Center. The hospital balked at the unionization effort, alleging the workers were students, and therefore were not covered by the National Labor Relations Act. In recent years, as managed care has changed the dynamics of doctor/patient relations, a growing number of medical professionals have sought to affiliate with labor unions. In ruling that interns and residents should be allowed to join unions, the labor-relations board split 3 to 2. Write to Glenn Burkins at glenn.burkins@wsj.com