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DULUTH — Health care workers at Essentia East Market advanced practice providers are hoping to unionize with the Minnesota Nurses Association.

They filed for an election vote with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, Nov. 27. However, an election date has yet to be set.

The Essentia East Market extends in Minnesota from Brainerd north to International Falls and Duluth and east to Ashland and Hayward in Wisconsin.

Hundreds of Essentia's nurse practitioners, physician associates, nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists have been organizing for months, according to a news release from the MNA.

"We feel maintaining a direct relationship is the right choice for these Essentia providers. We are currently reviewing the petition and will act in good faith throughout the process," Essentia Health said in a statement. "In the coming weeks, we will follow the law and share information with our Essentia colleagues to help them make an informed, personal choice about unionization."

By attaining membership to the MNA, the group believes it will have more say in their practice and working conditions to address issues including better compensation, work-life balance and patient loads.

"Without APPs, patients’ access to our health care system would be significantly limited and the system’s ability to provide quality patient care would be severely impacted," Lynn Gevik said during a news conference Tuesday night at the Duluth Labor Temple.

In her 30-year career in health care, Lynn Gevik has worked as a nurse practitioner for Essentia Health in its psychiatry and hospitalist departments for over six years.

Gevik said APPs at Essentia lack a meaningful voice in the delivery of patient care, including having input on the number of patients seen each day, the amount of time spent with each patient, and how to best help patients navigate the health care system.

"I am a patient as well. When I visit my physician or APP, I feel an obligation to keep my visit short because I know they will likely have more patients than they can deliver the expected quality of care in a day," Gevik said.

According to the Journal of Internal Medicine, primary care providers would need to work almost 27 hours daily to provide all recommended preventive, chronic disease and acute care to their patients.

"Essentia Health values the important role that all of our providers play in delivering high-quality patient care. We are committed to fostering an excellent work environment based on our values, which include quality, respect, stewardship and teamwork," Essentia said in its statement.

While the health care industry faces challenges such as rising operating costs and workforce shortages, Essentia said it is committed to providing competitive pay and increases. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the East Market earn a full-time salary that ranges from $104,000-$179,000, depending on the specialty and experience, according to Essentia.

As salaried employees, Gevik claimed Essentia's APPs work many uncompensated hours to ensure quality care for their patients. Expectations for the number of patients seen in a day continue to increase, Gevik said, resulting in burnout and moral injury among providers.

"This year, that cost nearly $1 billion to construct. Yet, in its shadow there are APPs who have not had raises for years," Gevik said.

"Essentia Health may say that 90% of their APPs received a raise this year, but is the 1 cent-per-hour raise given to a highly experienced orthopedic nurse practitioner really a raise? Or, should a talented critical care nurse practitioner who worked tirelessly to care for our most vulnerable community members during the pandemic be going into their fourth year without a raise? Or, should psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners be going into their third year without a raise? We think not!"

Essentia's turnover rate of APPs is 6.5%, compared to 11% nationally, reported

Essentia said it has doubled the number of APPs on its care teams over the last decade, in addition to offering support by encouraging their voices in patient care, investing in education and training opportunities, and advocating for expanding their scope of practice.