NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx is one of...

NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx is one of the city's public hospitals where doctors have threatened to strike. Credit: Associated Press/Kyle Mazza

A labor strike at public hospitals in three New York City boroughs would be averted if a tentative contract is ratified by the union representing doctors who had threatened to walk off the job this month.

The proposed deal, including "substantial" raises, would increase base salary; offer bonuses based on years of employment, time worked during the pandemic and medical specialty; restore cuts to sick leave, and add Juneteenth as a paid holiday, according to a news release Monday by the union, which is called the Doctors Council. Particulars were not readily disclosed. The union represents about 2,500 doctors; about 1,000 have threatened to strike.

Christopher Miller, a spokesman for NYC Health + Hospitals, the government entity that runs municipal health care, said in a statement: "Our physicians provide the high-quality care that our patients have come to expect at NYC health + Hospitals. We are pleased that the Doctors Council and our affiliates have come to tentative agreement that is fair to our physicians, while also addressing the shared goals of doctor recruitment and retention. This agreement will ensure that we can continue to serve all New Yorkers who require health care, without exception."

The hospitals where doctors have threatened to strike are NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx, NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island, a campus that includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital, formerly Coney Island Hospital.

"At a time when the health of the city of New York is paramount, Doctors Council members and H+H came together to make incredible change that is both positive and potentially transformative," said Dr. Michael P. Jones, vice chair for Education and the Residency Program Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Jacobi, in the news release. "We’re excited about this opportunity and will continue the hard work to benefit our communities."

The union's news release says the contract would be voted on by members in the coming days.

Although the public pays the doctors' salaries, they are technically employed by private-sector affiliates. The parties have been negotiating for more than a year and a half. Because of the private-sector arrangement, the law prohibiting strikes in the public sector doesn't apply. 

At a City Council hearing last week, public hospital doctors testified about being overworked, underpaid and burned out. 

In recent years, there has been labor strife across the region as medical providers, including on Long Island, have threatened to strike. 

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