Gallup hospital physicians seek to unionize amid pandemic turmoil

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Physicians at Rehoboth McKinley Christian hospital in Gallup have taken the first major step toward unionizing to pursue collective bargaining on employment provisions.

Union of American Physicians and Dentists spokeswoman Sue Wilson said Tuesday that a majority of the roughly 30 physicians at the hospital have signed and submitted union authorization cards to the National Labor Relations Board.

The push to unionize follows both financial turmoil and harrowing encounters with COVID-19 at the hospital on the edge of the Navajo Nation.

Hospital spokeswoman Ina Burmeister said notice of union organization was received late Tuesday and is being evaluated.