Physicians at Leading DC Children’s Hospital to Hold Unity Break to Demand Fair Contract and Patient Protections

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Children’s National Resident Physicians Will Speak Out for Improved Care, Fair Contract

Washington, D.C. — Resident physicians and fellows at Children’s National Hospital, represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), will hold a Unity Break on November 15, 2022 to bring attention to their ongoing struggle for a fair contract that allows them to adequately care for their patients while maintaining their own well-being. 

The CIR physicians say that they have had to exhaust themselves in order to ensure the safety of their highly vulnerable patients throughout the pandemic. Lacking sufficient patient caps in their contract to ensure that they can spend adequate time with each young patient, they say they must work twice as hard to provide the level of care their patients deserve, which has led to a range of mental health issues for the physicians. 

  • Who: The resident and fellow physicians at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents. 
  • What: Children’s National resident physicians will hold a Unity Break to demand a fair contract and fight to protect patient care for the children they serve. 
  • Where: The event will take place on the hill next to McMillan Reservoir across the street from the hospital’s main entrance near 111 Michigan Avenue NW.
  • When: Tuesday, November 15, 2022, from 6:15 PM to 6:45 PM. Residents will walk from the hospital’s main entrance at 6:00 PM, and begin the Unity Break at 6:15 PM.

The Children’s National residents, who in many cases carry over $200,000 in student loan debt, are overworked and underpaid, with their salaries failing to adequately keep up with inflation. They say fair pay would help ensure they can better focus on delivering quality care to the young people they are responsible for treating. 

The Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) is the largest house staff union in the United States. A local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), representing over 22,000 resident physicians and fellows. Our members are dedicated to improving residency training and education, advancing patient care, and expanding healthcare access for our communities.