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

For CIR members at Highland Hospital, in Oakland,CA, the final straw came the day a homeless man was found sleeping in their call room, which didn’t have a functioning lock. When the situation had not improved one week later, they decided it was time to take action!

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.

Dr. Tamina Isolano-Nagarvala began with an account of her frustration with hospital neglect. Dr. Davida Flattery, CIR delegate and chief resident, presented a “Timeline of Disrespect” on an enormous poster board that chronicled the empty promises made by hospital administration. Dr. Chetachi Okereke followed up with her concerns about inaction on security issues, and Dr. Doug Do spoke about the many times that CIR has worked with the hospital, most recently to fight CMS cuts.

To wrap up, Dr. Tanya Hamidi invited management to sign a large commitment card asking for a productive and respectful relationship. Their action has already produced some positive outcomes, with working locks on all call-rooms, forward movement on the Patient Care Fund items, a commitment by the Chief Medical Officer to meet monthly with CIR members, a hot and cold water cooler (one of the residents’ demands), and better overall communication between residents and the administration.