ChristianaCare becomes 1st house staff, 2nd pool of docs to unionize in Delaware

NEWARK – The ChristianaCare Health Network has officially become the second group of doctors and the first house staff in Delaware to successfully unionize.

“It’s very exciting that Christiana residents have come together to form a union, creating the framework to support each other in each department’s needs,” said Dr. Layla Annous, a resident physician in medicine and pediatrics. 

ChristianaCare votes to unionize

The vote this week was 111 to 52 to unionize, making the frontline workers part of the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU), the nation’s largest and oldest house staff union.

“We look forward to partnering with Christiana to create a fair contract that promotes the well-being of our resident physicians and helps us to be the best physicians possible for our community,” Annous said. 

The Delaware residents are now the second group of ChristianaCare physicians to unionize within the past year. 

“Delaware has a 28-year history of physicians forming unions over the objections of the hospitals, Blue Cross insurers, and the DOJ,” said C. D. Casscells, director of the Health Policy Sector at the Caesar Rodney Institute. “ As a physician, I applaud the physician resident workforce for their successful vote for fair collective bargaining in a free market.”

Last summer, attending physicians made history by successfully forming the first union in the health system’s history and the largest union of private-sector physicians in the United States.

“ChristianaCare respects the decision made by our residents, and we are committed to moving forward constructively through good faith bargaining with the union,” a spokesperson for ChristianaCare said. “We will continue to foster a collaborative environment and an exceptional educational experience for these physicians who are the next generation of health care.”

Their organizing effort is part of a broader movement of house staff unionizing to set a new standard for physician training, patient care, and health justice across the region. 

“The union includes all resident physicians and fellows employed by ChristianaCare Health Services,” said Annie Della Fera, lead communications coordinator for CIR/SEIU. “They primarily work at Christiana Hospital in Newark and Wilmington Hospital in Wilmington, though they may have one-off rotations at another site occasionally.”

The ChristianaCare residents first went public with their campaign in November, the same day their peers from four major Philadelphia healthcare systems announced their own efforts to join CIR/SEIU. 

The move comes on the heels of Jefferson Health residents, who celebrated a landslide vote this week also, and follows Einstein Healthcare Network and Temple University Hospital doctors, who announced their successful votes last week.