Resident physicians from three local hospitals held what they called a “unity break” outside Children’s National Hospital in Northwest D.C. Tuesday night to protest working conditions at medical facilities swamped by patients with viral respiratory infections, including RSV.
They are the doctors who shoulder a lot of the day-to-day work at hospitals as they complete their medical training, and their protest signs grew soggy in the pouring rain.
The resident physicians who gathered Tuesday were from Children’s National, Howard University and Saint Elizabeths hospitals. They huddled together under small tents in a downpour to bring attention to their efforts to ensure a new labor contract will reflect their struggles.
Their young medical careers are historic, including two plus years of a global pandemic that has killed over a million people in the U.S., and a current deluge of very young patients with viral respiratory infections, including RSV.
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The residents say they pick up the slack when hospitals experience nursing and other staff shortages. They also say they are spread thin and are mentally and physically exhausted.
“Because we are responsible for treating the most vulnerable patients, we do whatever it takes to give them the best, most attentive, safest and compassionate care possible, even when that means exhausting ourselves beyond our limits,” one demonstrator said into a microphone.
A record number of hospital residents joined labor unions during the pandemic.In a statement, a spokesperson for Children’s Hospital said: “We remain hopeful that this surge in respiratory infections will subside to historical levels which would reduce some pressure on our teams. We thank the residents for their hard work and dedication to our patients.”
