Some employees at Westmed/Summit vote to unionize

An election conducted under rules and regulations of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has resulted in certain employees at the Westchester Medical Group d/b/a Westmed Medical Group, part of Summit Healthcare Corp., voting to join a union, the Business Journal has learned.

The NLRB certified that a majority of the workers who cast ballots voted in favor of joining the union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. The employees work at Westmed/Summit’s health care centers in Yonkers at 73 Market Street and 1084 N. Broadway, in New Rochelle at 171 Huguenot St., in Rye at 1 Theall Road, in West Harrison at 21O Westchester Ave., in Purchase at 3030 Westchester Ave., and in Greenwich at 644 West Putnam Ave.

Numerous different job titles are included among the employees who voted to unionize, such as nurse, pharmacist and physical therapist. Excluded from union representation are all physicians, dentists, advance practice nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, audiologists, behavioral health clinicians, optometrists, confidential employees, guards, managerial and supervisory employers.

According to an NLRB document, there were 948 people eligible to vote. A total of 762 ballots were counted with 547 voting in favor of union representation and 215 voting against.

John D. Doyle, Jr.
regional director of Region 2
 of the NLRB issued a letter stating, in part: “An election has been conducted under the Board’s Rules and Regulations … a collective-bargaining representative has been selected. No timely objections have been filed. As authorized by the National Labor Relations Board, it is certified that a majority of the valid ballots has been cast for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and that it is the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the employees.”

The acquisition of Westmed by Summit had been announced on Jan. 19, 2022. At that time, Westmed had about 500 physicians and advanced care providers, with 1,500 clinical employees at 13 locations in Westchester and Fairfield.

In 2019, Summit merged with CityMD, an urgent care provider in the New York metro area that has locations in Westchester.

The addition of Westmed grew Summit to include more than 2,500 providers, 12,000 employees, and more than 340 locations in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Central Oregon. The Westmed brand was being identified as a “A Summit Health Company.”

199SEIU reported it has more than 450,000 members throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, and Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1932 and has its principal office in New York City with offices in other cities including White Plains.