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California CIR Members Leading the Way on Resident Work Hour Redesign

Throughout the state, CIR members are engaged in discussions and, in some cases, pilot programs to determine the best ways to implement the recommendations outlined in the 2008 Institute of Medicine report, Resident Duty Hours: Enhancing Sleep, Supervision and Safety. The ACGME is expected to release new guidelines later this year, and CIR has been weighing in on the best ways to protect doctors and patients on the job.

CHO Residents Gear Up for Negotiations

Resident physicians at Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland (CHO) made a series of visits to local elected officials to enlist their support in advance of negotiations for CIR’s second contract with the hospital. The current contract expires June 30, 2010.

Preparing for “the Business Side of Medicine” After Residency

The devil is in the details when it comes to negotiating an employment contract, planning for one’s financial future, and managing debt. That was the main takeaway for CIR members who attended post-residency life workshops in November.

Throughout the month, CIR hosted Post Residency Life Workshops at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, Harbor-UCLA and LAC + USC Medical Centers in Los Angeles, and Highland Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Oakland. Residents heard from experts like attorneys Mark Richard and Henry Fenton, and financial specialist and CPA Mitch Freedman, who highlighted what to watch for in navigating the business side of a medical career.

CIR Residents Deliver Reform Message Locally And Nationally

Northern California CIR leaders have been front and center in the health care reform fight for months, and even more so over the past few weeks.

As Congress returned to Washington after the summer recess, CIR joined with Health Care for America Now! at two major rallies. CIR Executive Vice President Dr.Nailah Thompson was a featured speaker at a September 2 rally at San Francisco City Hall. Behind her, the white coats of CIR members filled the stage. On September 22, Highland Hospital Emergency Medicine resident Dr. Allison Mulcahy spoke at a rally at the Embarcadero Center.

CIR Residents Learn About Life After Residency

Residents in Northern California, Southern California, Massachusetts and New York got answers to their most pressing questions about life after residency at a recent series of Post-Residency Life Workshops. More than 150 residents attended the sessions.

Western Regional CIR Leaders Bridge the Health Care Reform Gap

On Saturday, August 29, 2009, about 50 CIR members from New Mexico, Los Angeles and Northern California came together in Oakland to receive advanced training in organizing and bargaining, share experiences from chapters around the region, and strategize about how to win health care reform this year.

CIR Residents Take Health Care Fight to the Hill

Report by Dr. Davida Flattery, CIR Regional Vice President
Several CIR leaders traveled to Washington DC on June 24 and 25 to join with doctors and nurses from around the country in telling our elected officials that our patients can no longer wait for meaningful health care reform. We attended a candle light rally and participated in a training session with other SEIU members before heading to the Congressional and Senate offices.

CIR Joins Coalition Fighting to Save Public Health

CIR members at San Francisco General Hospital have joined the new multi-organization Coalition to Save Public Health in response to Mayor Gavin Newsom's massive mid-year cuts to the Department of Public Health's budget. Over twenty unions, NGOs, social service organizations, and faith-based groups have come together to fight these cuts that will gut the vital services of San Francisco's neediest populations.

Preparing for the Year to Come in New Mexico

New Mexico, dubbed “The Land of Enchantment,” was the backdrop for CIR’s Western Regional Meeting on November 8, 2008. CIR doctors from the Northern California, Southern California and New Mexico regions gathered at the Albuqeruque Hotel in Albuqerque for a full-day’s worth of activities, incorporating workshops, presentations, training, planning for the year ahead and, of course, networking and socializing with their fellow members.

Prop A Passes by a Landslide

CIR doctors turned out to support San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) on September 15, 2008, alongside Mayor Gavin Newsom and other city leaders, and CIR made a substantial contribution to the campaign. We saw our efforts pay off on November 4th, when Prop. A passed by an overwhelming 85% margin.

Winning R-E-S-P-E-C-T at Highland Hospital

On August 21, 2008, over 35 residents from Internal Medicine made a surprise presentation at a labor-management meeting. Their security and other concerns had been ignored for two years, and the hospital had been stalling for eight months on 2007 Patient Care Fund requests.

California Members Stand Up for Safe Staffing

CIR members from the north to the south of the state have joined with fellow SEIU Healthcare members to work for safe ancillary staffing levels. On August 18, 2008, CIR leaders traveled from the Bay Area to Sacramento to lobby for a bill that would mandate safe staffing levels at hospitals throughout the state. They visited six state senate offices to discuss the dangers of understaffing, and distributed a brochure that included a survey of nearly 500 CIR California members on the importance of ancillary staffing.

CIR’s Western Members Are Going Green!

CIR’s environmentally-conscious physicians in our Wesern region are “going green” to create a healthier, more sustainable environment.

Letter to the Editor in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Twenty-four doctors jointly signed a Letter to the Editor in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat to voice their concerns over the cutting of jobs at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

"We, the doctors of the Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, are disappointed to hear of the massive job cuts that are going to take place at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and of the closure of the last mental health inpatient facility in Sonoma County..."

Read the full letter

Charting the Year Ahead

On November 3rd, 2007, the three chapters that make up CIR’s Western Region -- New Mexico, Southern, and Northern California -- came together to meet, share news, and make plans for how to accomplish their goals in the year ahead.

Sutter Residents Stand Up

In January, Sutter Health, a private HMO, announced the closing of its hospital in Santa Rosa, CA, which provides vital health services to the Sonoma County community. This sudden announcement brought CIR members at Sutter Hospital in Santa Rosa together with other healthcare unions and community groups to form the Healthcare Justice Sonoma County coalition, in an attempt to hold Sutter Health responsible to the community needs that take precedence over its bottom line.

CIR Members in Modesto Win New Contract

On May 3 2007, the CIR negotiating team at Doctor's Medical Center in Modesto, CA met with the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency to start the process of contract negotiations.

United and Strong in California!

On October 14, 2006, CIR’s six chapters in California gathered for their annual statewide meeting. The theme was “United Together,” and residents from the Golden State pledged a united effort to support critical health care ballot initiatives in the November election, and to continue their ongoing struggle to improve conditions and patient care within the state’s hospitals.

CIR Leaders at Press Event Speak Out for Paid Sick Days for S.F. Workers

On July 27, 2006, CIR activists, including Vice Pres. Christine Dehlendorf, MD, of San Francisco General Hospital, were among the labor and community groups speaking out in favor of paid sick days for employees in San Francisco.

San Francisco General Hospital Residents Ratify New Contract

The underlying theme for their negotiations was: Residents are here because we love San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH), we are at the bargaining table to make improvements to patient care, and our proposals are fair and will allow us to better serve the community we are dedicated to.