Amir Meiri, MD
Boston Medical Center
Regional VP Massachusetts

I have seen first-hand the impact of CIR on the well-being of our house staff, which translates into better patient care. With the support of CIR, we negotiated a fair contract with Boston Medical Center that provides the house staff with piece of mind with regards to salary and many other important benefits. Also, our contract allows us to partner with the administration and work together to improve the lives of our patients, our top priority though multiple initiatives, supported by CIR.

I am very excited about the campaign to Demand Safe Bathrooms at BMC, led by residents and supported by CIR staff and the BMC administration/QI department. The recent deaths related to opioid abuse/overdose at BMC inspired concerned and motivated residents to join with CIR to help battle the serious opioid epidemic that we see daily at our hospital, a safety net institution. CIR provides essential support and training on developing sustainable and impactful campaigns and I look forward to seeing the results!

As an active member of CIR, I have learned the incredible power of collective bargaining and collaboration. I have learned how better to work with BMC administration and how to effect greater change for house staff and patients through interactive dialogue and real time data collection and pilot programs. I have developed important professional relationships with a variety of departmental leaders and residents that allow me to work towards achieving the goals of CIR – to empower house staff to improve our training, patient care, and healthcare system.

I want to bring CIR to the next level – to continue to teach house staff how better to develop campaigns to effect greater change and share our voice with institutional leadership and the nation. Especially in this tense political environment, it is more important than ever that interns, residents, and fellows have a unified voice. I believe CIR can help us accomplish this through their strong political advocacy and communication departments.

I want to restructure our region’s agenda and goals to ensure it aligns well with CIR’s broader mission to empower the house staff to fight for our patients, training, and healthcare system. CIR has many roles in our region, supporting numerous committees and subcommittees. I would like to see a more unified role of supporting our interns, residents, and fellows in a more actionable manner – teaching us skills to sustain these initiatives and programs, while providing the necessary support as we grow as a union organization.