'Historic Strike Avoided' By Contra Costa County, Doctors Union

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — The union representing Contra Costa County doctors said Monday it reached a contract agreement with the county.

The Physicians' and Dentists' Organization of Contra Costa, which represents more than 240 doctors in the county's public health system, said its new agreement with county management was supported by 90 percent of voting members and approved by the county board of supervisors March 21.

The union said the agreement "avoids a historic strike which would have impacted operations throughout the county health system."

The contract enhances the time doctors have to manage their panels of patients and also makes the compensation package more competitive in the Bay Area market, the union said.

It also addresses many issues PDOCC members brought up during negotiations, including high patient caseloads, insufficient time for administrative tasks, long waits for primary care appointments and specialty referrals, chronic short staffing and high turnover.

"Our new contract advances our goal of improving the ability of Contra Costa County to recruit and retain top medical and dental talent to best serve our communities," said Dr. David MacDonald, the president of PDOCC. "We will continue advocating for the patient care issues we called attention to in our negotiations, but we are optimistic about our progress and path forward."

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