DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) – After eight months of organizing, Tuesday a group of Advanced Practice Providers at Essentia’s East Market announced their vote to join the Minnesota Nurses Association.
Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists filed for a union vote back in November. However, the election was delayed for months as Essentia legally challenged the proposed bargaining unit.
The group argues that while Essentia is growing in size and revenue, they are often being understaffed and overworked.
Eric Griffith is an advanced practice provider at Essentia in diabetes and endocrinology. Griffith said he was eight-years-old when he was diagnosed with type one diabetes, inspiring him to go into healthcare to help treat others experiencing the same disease.
He says they want a voice at the table so patient care remains the top priority.
“Today we take a seat at the table that was not offered to us, starting today we make our mighty voices heard, we as advanced practice providers are not expendable,” said Griffith.
Essentia argues that patient care and access remain Essentia’s top priority, the hospital issuing this statement in response to the vote:
“Today, Essentia Health learned from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that a group of our East Market advanced practice providers (APPs) voted to be represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) in collective bargaining.
“We are disappointed in this outcome as we continue to believe that unionization of our professional advanced practice providers is not in the best interests of our patients or our staff,” said Tonya Loken, Essentia’s community relations director. “A single bargaining unit that includes a wide range of settings, specialties and locations may not allow for unique approaches to caring for the different needs of patients.”
The election primarily included nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse midwives. These providers offer primary, surgical and specialty care at hospitals and clinics in many rural communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin, from Brainerd to the Twin Ports to International Falls to Hinckley to Spooner.
“Throughout this process, we will continue to provide expert care to the patients and communities we have the honor of serving,” Loken said. “At Essentia, our patients and protecting access to care are at the heart of our decisions.
“We are fortunate to have many talented nurse practitioners and physician assistants on our care teams at Essentia. They are highly skilled professionals who provide important access to excellent care for our patients.”
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