KALISPELL — Citizens and health care providers gathered at the Northwest Montana History Museum to discuss the possible unionization of Logan Health primary care providers.
Around a month ago, primary health care providers filed a petition to unionize with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists due to years of staffing concerns. Now they are hosting a town hall to discuss the future of health care in the region.
"You deserve, as a member of this community, to have the best care possible," Donna Nelson, a Registered Nurse at Logan Health, said.
A panel of Logan Health physicians and Doctor Stuart Bussey, the president of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, hosted a town hall on Saturday to hear the voice of the community before the final vote.
Watch to learn more about the town hall meeting:
"We're here to make Logan a better place by having them listen to the people on the ground," Bussey said.
The response to the town hall was positive, as many former and current health care providers, including Chad Ferguson, a former orthopedic surgeon who supports forming a union, attended.
He says doing so would help address long wait times for patients, what he calls a lack of quality care and more.
"It's ridiculous. How are you supposed to get anybody's trust, how are you supposed to help them, how are you supposed to teach people with that kind of volume and demand on a physician?" Ferguson said.
Ferguson is also concerned for the future of healthcare if nothing changes with Logan Health's staffing and schedules.
"If it's continually more burden without the reward, people will go elsewhere. There's nowhere else for us to go, local, we are stuck in an isolated area. If we don't recruit and retain talent, we will not have anybody to take care of us," Ferguson said.
Bussey is leading the effort to unionize, which has a crucial next step.
"There's going to be an election on January 13th to recognize the union and to see if the members of the providers want to unionize," Bussey said.
In a statement to MTN News, Logan Health's Senior Marketing and Communications Coordinator Chris Leopold says that they are aware of the town hall, respect open dialogue and share the goal of providing patient focused care for the patients and communities they serve.
