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Primary care nurse practitioners, doctors and physician assistants at 61 Allina Health clinics could strike next month if an agreement is not reached at two upcoming bargaining sessions.
During a press conference on Friday, members of the Doctors Council SEIU announced plans for a one-day strike on Nov. 5. Picketing will take place at Allina’s clinics located in Coon Rapids, Richfield, and West St. Paul. Union members said this could potentially be the largest strike of its kind in U.S. history and the first for doctors in Minnesota.
Negotiation sessions are scheduled for Oct. 29 and Nov. 3, ahead of the planned strike.
The 600-member Doctors Council Minnesota unionized in 2023 and has been negotiating with Allina Health for its first contract since February 2024, with some tentative agreements reached.
“Even after 20 months of bargaining, Allina is refusing to bargain over safe staffing levels for our clinics. They're refusing to bargain over things that we consider basic contract items like health care, retirement and sick leave,” said Dr. Matt Hoffman, a family physician at Allina Vadnais Heights Clinic.
Union members also voiced concerns about proposed wage cuts and expressed their desire to avoid a strike to secure a contract with Allina Health, but felt they had no choice but to announce their intent to strike.
“We love caring for our patients, but we have seen so many of our colleagues leave primary care,” Hoffman said. “We've seen so many of our colleagues get burned out, cut back their hours, not be able to care for as many patients. We cannot let that cycle continue.”
Allina Heath said in a statement that patient care remains its top priority, and the goal is to minimize disruptions for patients during the one-day strike. A spokesperson wrote that the union's requests for substantial wage increases, and their benefit proposals are not “realistic or sustainable.”
“Given the rising health care insurance costs, the ongoing financial challenges for health care providers, and anticipated reductions in reimbursements and programs like Medicaid, we cannot agree to a contract that will add significant new costs and will undermine our ability to operate and serve the community,” the spokesperson wrote.
During bargaining negotiations, the Doctors Council proposed minimum staffing levels for clinical assistants and nurses to ensure adequate support for daily clinical care.
Dr. Cora Walsh, a family physician at the Allina West St. Paul Clinic, said that patients often wait over an hour after seeing their provider to have their labs drawn due to staffing shortages, or they are being sent to emergency rooms for laboratory work because Allina transferred most of its clinic-based lab work to Quest Diagnostics, a for-profit company.
Walsh added that Allina has not addressed their proposals aimed at protecting physicians’ time for administrative work, which often extends into the evening hours.
Dr. Nick VenOsdel, a pediatrician at Allina’s Hastings clinic, said his colleagues feel “hopeless” and “demoralized” daily. He emphasized that primary care is about building relationships with patients, and many doctors are leaving their positions or retiring early due to burnout and ethical conflicts with their responsibilities.
“There's a reason why you might have to wait a month or two just to see your primary care doctor,” VenOsdel said. “We don't have enough doctors and healthcare providers.”
Allina Health plans to close four of its clinics in the Twin Cities metro area on November 1 due to patient preferences and to improve efficiency across its clinics. Another clinic in Chaska will close in February.
Earlier this year, Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis stopped providing kidney transplant surgeries, and in February, Allina’s chemical dependency unit at Mercy Hospital in Fridley will close, with services relocated elsewhere.
Union members said they chose a one-day strike to minimize the impact on patient care.
“Our hope is that through those sessions, Allina is really going to come to the table and work with us to get to a fair contract that's really going to improve primary care,” Hoffman said.
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