As medical providers at Peak Vista Community Health Centers await a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board on a complaint claiming 18 charges of labor law violations against their employer and a ruling from the same body to proceed with a vote to unionize, patient care continues to deteriorate, they say.
About a year ago, providers received a message from upper management to “stop providing steak and potatoes,” according to one Peak Vista doctor who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.
“The analogy was in a five-star restaurant you expect steak and potatoes, and when you go to a soup kitchen you expect soup,” the doctor said. “I was disturbed by that because our mission is that all of our patients deserve steak and potatoes.”
Patient count has dropped from more than 30,000 monthly encounters in 2018 to below 23,200 per month last year, according to a letter issued last week by dozens of providers and sent to Peak Vista donors.
Declines in patient volume can jeopardize federal grants if the numbers fall below set thresholds for care, said Andrew Guttman, a representative with the organizing Union of American Physicians and Dentists, with headquarters in Sacramento, Calif.