UNM Housestaff Campaign

CIR Doctors Welcome SEIU "Road to American Health Care" Bus to New Mexico

SEIU’s “Road to American Health Care” bus tour is traveling across the country on its way to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, stopping in communities large and small to highlight the real people who are being hurt by the health care crisis. On Thursday, July 24, 2008, it arrived in New Mexico -- home to the UNM Medical Center -- and picked up a couple of CIR leaders who are making the issue a top priority.

CIR Secretary Treasurer Elizabeth Burpee, MD and CIR New Mexico Vice President John Ingle, MD voiced their support for quality, affordable health care for all. Dr. Burpee explained that health care needs to be seen not as a commodity, but as a right. “We are the wealthiest country in the world with public services that we consider a right -- for example, the fire department,” she said. “Can you imagine having the fire department put out a fire in your home and then receiving a bill for the service? Or if your home is broken into, can you imagine having to pay the police up front to investigate?”

Although strides have been made in recent years, New Mexico still lags behind other states in terms of access to health care. With 21% of the population lacking health insurance, New Mexico is second only to Texas in lack of access. Moreover, New Mexico is in the grips of a severe health care professional shortage, with every county but one designated as having a shortage of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers, including physicians.

Dr. Ingle indicated that with such real problems facing doctors and patients, doctors had a responsibility to advocate for better patient care. “We must make health care the major domestic policy issue in this historic election year,” he said. ”We can talk to co-workers, family and friends about the importance of health care reform and, after the November elections, hold our elected officials accountable for health care reform.”

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CIR Residents Win Another Wage Increase

Drs. John Ingle and Drew Harrell at the UNM Ratification vote on May 5.

On May 5, 2008 the CIR members at UNM overwhelmingly voted in favor of the new salary rates for UNM scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2008.

For the second year in a row, the CIR Negotiating Team, who concluded its 2008 Salary Re-Opener negotiations with UNM on April 23, 2008, brought home substantial raises for every PGY level, from 5% for PGY1s to 9.3% for PGY5s. This latest contract builds on the gains won in 2007, when housestaff saw salary increases from 5.3% to 10.3%.

"Before we joined CIR/SEIU fellows like myself in their fourth year of training were earning $42,661.00 a year," said Shadi Battah, CIR member and PGY 4 Fellow in Pulmonary Disease/Critical Care. "After bargaining our first wage increase in 2007 and again this spring the salary rate for a fourth year resident will increase to $50,555.00 on July 1, 2008. This raise represents the power of collective bargaining and having a unified voice."

With such strong achievements in only two years, we are well on our way to achieving lasting improvements for ourselves and for our patients!

Interested in joining CIR? Please contact CIR staff organizer Bill Bradley at 385-0699.

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"Walk a Day in the Shoes" of a CIR Member

New Mexico Senate candidate Representative Tom Udall spent the day with Dr. Elizabeth Burpee in Albuquerque, NM this Friday, April 4, as part of SEIU's "Walk a Day in the Shoes" program.

From left to right: Elizabeth Burpee, MD, PGY 3, Internal Medicine; Thomas Shiffler, MD, PGY 3, Internal Medicine; Rep. Tom Udall; Tasha Ludwick, DO, PGY 1, Family and Community Medicine; and Shadi Battah, MD, PGY 4, Fellow, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

>> Watch the Video

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Delegate Election Results

• John Ingle, ENT and Jesse Barnes, FM garnered the most votes for delegate.
• Also, Amy Garcia, Peds; Tasha June Ludwick, FM; Shadi Battah, IM; and Gilbert Esser, Psych are the other winning delegates.
• Noah Zuker and Megan Hough have been elected alternate delegates.
• Congratulations to all CIR/SEIU new delegates!

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Taking to the Airwaves

Pictured are (l. to r.) co-host Maria Santelli, CIR Drs. Jesse Barnes, Tasha Ludwick, and Juan Gallegos, and co-host Allen Cooper.

On October 26, 2007, New Mexico CIR members Drs. Jesse Barnes, a PGY 1 in Family Practice, Tasha Ludwick, PGY 1, Family Practice, and Juan Gallegos, a PGY 3 in Pediatrics appeared on Community Media, a cable TV program which is part of the IndyMedia national network of media outlets. The doctors discussed the SCHIP child health program and its importance to children throughout New Mexico with co-hosts Allen Cooper and Maria Santelli. They also talked about how the recent legislative battle around SCHIP related to the overall national healthcare debate, and SEIU's efforts to make universal healthcare a key national priority going into the 2008 elections.

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