Elmhurst Resident Doctors Reach Deal With Hospital

By Matis Glenn

Resident doctors at a Mount Sinai-affiliated program in Queens’ Elmhurst Hospital called off their strike Wednesday, having reached a deal with the medical center, according to NY1, citing union officials.

Over 160 Resident doctors went on strike Monday, as their union – the Committee of Interns and Residents – demanded that residents working at Elmhurst receive the same pay as Mount Sinai residents in Manhattan.

The tentative agreement reached between the union and Mount Sinai is a contract that would be in force until June 30 2025, and would grant Elmhurst residents an 18% pay raise over three years, including back pay from November 2022. In addition, they will receive a $2,000 ratification bonus, the creation of a transportation committee, meal allowance, and an agreement to negotiate hazard pay.

“This fight was always about power, and Elmhurst residents are truly building that together,” Dr. Sarah Hafuth, a doctor at Elmhurst Hospital, said in a statement to NY1.

“Getting a multi-billion-dollar revenue employer like Mount Sinai to move this far really shows what our movement as residents can achieve — even up against the most flagrant union busting and profit-driven corporations. Mount Sinai will now have to think twice about leaving Elmhurst behind and perpetuating these disparities for union doctors in the future. I also know that we are part of a larger ongoing fight for justice in our lives and in health care-and we plan on continuing that fight.”

This week’s strike marked the first instance of such an activity by resident doctors in 33 years, according to the union.

The union said that the doctors were paid $7,000 less than doctors with the same job title at Mount Sinai in Manhattan, where the doctors are not unionized.

Tanathun Kajornsakchai, a resident physician at Elmhurst Hospital, on Monday said that the strike was to ensure that doctors receive recognition, especially for their actions during the pandemic.

“They don’t give us the pay that we deserve, after the COVID pandemic – and I was there during the pandemic at the epicenter of the whole world at one point. We deserve recognition,” he told NY1.