City Council support of a fair union contract for Cambridge Hospital residents and calls on CHA leadership to swiftly and thoughtfully settle a contract that reflects the value of the resident physicians, the patients they serve, and the crucial importance of Cambridge Hospital to our community

O-1 FIRST IN COUNCIL September 30, 2024 City of Cambridge COUNCILLOR SOBRINHO-WHEELER VICE MAYOR MCGOVERN COUNCILLOR TONER COUNCILLOR SIDDIQUI WHEREAS: Cambridge Hospital is a historic community hospital that is a lifeline to patients in Cambridge and beyond, including communities of color, immigrants, refugees, unhoused community members and residents facing housing insecurity, and low- income patients; and WHEREAS: Though bargaining began in April, 2024, the union contract between the Cambridge Health Alliance and the resident physicians who work there, members of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU, expired June 30, 2024; and WHEREAS: CHA residents, some of whom served our community during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, are fighting for improved wages and working conditions; and WHEREAS: Resident physicians work at the heart of patient care at Cambridge Hospital while experiencing severe financial and workplace stress, often working 80-hour weeks and exhausting themselves to provide great care to everyone who needs it; and WHEREAS: Our healthcare system is strongest when our medical trainees, the doctors at the center of patient care, have what they need to thrive both inside and outside of the hospital, to ensure they are always at their best for the patients they serve, and to ensure CHA can continue to attract passionate doctors; now therefore be it RESOLVED: That the City Council go on record in support of a fair union contract for Cambridge Hospital residents and calls on CHA leadership to swiftly settle a contract that reflects the value of the residents, the patients they serve, and the crucial importance of Cambridge Hospital to our community; and be it further RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to Cambridge Health Alliance CEO Dr. Assad Sayah on behalf of the entire City Council.