Unionized doctors and dentists working at Los Angeles County-run hospitals and other health facilities will receive cost-of-living raises and bonuses under new agreements with the county that follow more than two years of bargaining and consultation. Threat of strike.
Tentative agreements with two bargaining units represented by the American Physicians and Dentists Association are expected to be voted on by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this month.
Members of the American Physicians and Dentists Association had prepared to go on strike in December, complaining that inadequate benefits had hampered recruitment and retention, and that vacancies had risen for key positions in county facilities, including psychiatrists in jails.
A large part of the controversy centered on the “MegaFlex” benefits package that L.A. County offers to more than 14,000 employees including managerial and administrative staff, most of whom are not unionized. According to county officials, this package gives workers an additional 14.5% to 19% on their base pay to purchase benefits and allows them to keep any unused portion as income.
UAPD pushed for its members to get those benefits. The Department of Health Services responded that they already have a “comprehensive benefits package” — the same goes for more than 35,000 other county employees — and offering a more expensive package to all of them would prevent the county from focusing its incentives on the workers who are most difficult to recruit.
The cost of expanding MegaFlex was also debated between the two sides: at one point, UAPD officials estimated the additional cost to be about $20 million per year based on current salaries, but county officials estimated that the cost would increase by as much as the raises would. Estimated expected expenses This cost exceeds $86 million per year, and the cost increases as salaries increase.
A proposed strike was postponed in December after the county and union agreed to seek opinions from outside experts about the implications of Megaflex’s expansion.
In late April, UAPD announced its negotiation teams had reached tentative agreements with the county, which were ratified by union members by the end of May.
Under the agreement, employees will receive the same cost-of-living increases as other county employees, with additional raises ranging from 2.75% to 19.25% for some positions, according to the county’s chief executive office. Starting salaries for certain medical specialties, such as neurology, were also increased.
In addition, according to the chief executive’s office, the county agreed to increase benefits “before Jan. 1, 2026.” The added benefits include a 401(k) plan, as well as short-term disability benefits for physicians, who complained doctors weren’t being paid enough to recover from childbirth.
In a statement released by the union, Dr. Michelle Armacost, a physician specializing in neurology at one of the county’s facilities, said current benefits put female physicians planning to become pregnant “at a disadvantage compared to private hospitals in the area.” “We demanded equal benefits, and we were willing to strike for it. The county listened to us, and we won.”
In addition to these raises, county employees who are not covered under MegaFlex will receive an annual bonus of $14,000 on top of their base pay, according to the chief executive’s office. Union officials also said the deal includes a “physician loyalty bonus for residents who choose to stay with the county after residency.”
“These new agreements set forth competitive salaries and attractive benefits that we expect will enable us to fill critical vacancies at our county-operated hospitals and other facilities and retain the talented healthcare workers providing essential services to our county residents,” the chief executive’s office said in a statement.
County officials did not immediately provide an estimate for the cost of the new contract with unionized doctors.
Benefits have long been a point of contention for county physicians. Doctors employed by LA County chopped off It took more than two decades for Megaflex to see benefits after they voted to form a union.
At the time, county officials said such benefits were available only to non-unionized employees. “The doctors knew exactly what they were doing,” said then-Supervisor Don Knabe stated in 2001,
Labor officials called it a move aimed at breaking up a nascent union and estimated the benefit package for some senior doctors at $19,000 or more. State lawmakers then County banned To prevent employees from being removed from a benefits plan because they joined a union, making this law pre-empting LA County’s move. UAPD also sued the county, eventually receiving a fine of over $10 million agreement,
The union later negotiated a new agreement with the county that kept existing employees on MegaFlex but put new employees on a different plan, the county’s chief executive office said. As of December, only a small number of UAPD members — fewer than 200 — had received MegaFlex benefits, according to the county.
In a report to county supervisors last year, Health Services Department Director Dr. Christina R. Ghaly said that over the past few years, “salary increases were negotiated steadily while taking into account that this group does not receive MegaFlex benefits.”
UAPD President Dr. Stuart Bussey dismissed the idea at a public rally last year that they had “got Megaflex out of the bargain.” Bussey told the crowd that in the past, “hiring wasn’t as bad as it is now,” and a state law limiting pension benefits for public employees was not in effect. “Times have changed.”
In a recent statement to union members, Bussey said UAPD members “have refused to compromise until we achieve a collective bargaining agreement that prioritizes patient care with competitive wages and benefits.”
“Your determination and patience have paid off, and we look forward to collaborating with the county to fill the vacant positions.”
