Tentative agreement reached for Allina Health doctors after four-day strike

Days after conducting a four-day strike, 150 Allina Health doctors have reached a tentative agreement for their first union contract.

The union, Doctors Council SEIU, says the deal was made late Tuesday night during the 66th bargaining session. Doctors Council SEIU and Allina Health have been working toward an agreement for three years.

The contract includes language on greater professional autonomy, a grievance process to ensure protection when advocating for patients, full release from non-competes in the case of a layoff and transparency on compensation models, according to the union.

"Our union collectively protects the rights of physicians in their advocacy for patients and patient safety in the context of very powerful economic forces, including the emergence of AI in healthcare," Dr. John Wust III, a member of the union's bargaining team, said. "More than three years after the union authorization vote, we have reached a tentative agreement with Allina Health for our first contract."

The union will be holding a vote on whether to approve the agreement in the coming days. If ratified, the contract will last three years.

"We are pleased to share that Allina Health and Doctors Council SEIU reached a tentative agreement," Allina Health said in a statement.

OBGYNs, hospitalists, psychiatrists and critical care physicians at Mercy Hospital picketed last week in what the union says it believes to be the first-ever private-sector hospital strike.

The deal comes as Sutter Health, a California-based health nonprofit, says it is planning to acquire Allina Health in a deal that was announced in March.