Elmhurst Hospital residents, interns prepare for strike and demand fair pay

QUEENS, N.Y. - Nearly 200 residents and interns at Elmhurst Hospital say they will go on strike at 7 am on Monday. 

They’re demanding Mount Sinai pay them the same wages as their counterparts in Manhattan. 

Residents say this is the second time they’ve threatened to strike in a month. 

There is still time to hammer out a deal this weekend, but if not a five-day strike starts Monday.

Elmhurst Hospital in Queens relies on its resident physicians to deliver patient care daily. 

But in just a few days, all 178 of them are threatening to walk off the job— in a strike organized by the CIR union.

"The patients will notice," said Lorenzo Antonio Gonzalez, committee of interns and residents national president.

While Elmhurst is a public hospital, run by NYC Health + Hospitals, the residents are a part of a Mount Sinai training program. 

It’s Mount Sinai signing their checks, which they say are $7,000 smaller than the non-unionized residents in Mount Sinai’s main campus in Manhattan. 

This will go up to an $11,000 disparity in July.

That means a first-year resident at Elmhurst makes $68,000

Whereas their counterparts at Mount Sinai will make $79,000.

"And to be told that for some reason that I am undeserving of pay similar to my colleagues, even though we sit in the same chairs side-by-side, it really doesn’t make sense," said Sarah Hafuth, first-year psychiatry resident.

Especially for the doctors who worked during the height of the pandemic, where Elmhurst was an epicenter for COVID contagion. A resident told me his experience was terrifying and only amply rewarded. 

So why don’t they leave? 

Residents don’t get to pick where they’re placed to train. The union says Elmhurst relies on international early career doctors who are working on visas and Mount Sinai knows they’re vulnerable. 

"This patient population is diversity in a microcosm," said Gonzalez. "And I think the historical disinvestment in these types of communities is how disease happens. I’m a true believer disease is a manifestation of oppression. That’s what we’re fighting for here at the pay equity. The parity is going to bring doctors here work at the top of who want to work at the type of their license. And that’s what these patients need."

Mount Sinai did not respond to a request for comment.

Elmhurst Hospital said in an email:

"Our medical residents play a critical role in patient care, and we are hopeful they will reach a labor agreement soon to avoid a strike. In the meantime, we are making all the necessary preparations to ensure uninterrupted access to patient care services if there is a strike. Our dedicated staff are ready to take on extra shifts, and we will be able to mobilize clinicians from other health system hospitals if necessary. Patient safety and access to care for our community is our top priority."