Westchester Summit Health Workers Rally for Better Pay, Benefits, Conditions

By Davi Schulman

Westchester Summit Health workers gathered Wednesday to demand fair pay, better benefits and enhanced conditions after they say a corporate takeover has worsened their workplace.

This self-described “Day of Action” was designed to include major worker pickets with hundreds of people and appearances by elected officials, but there was a last minute shift in plans.

The 1199SEIU union representatives gave ten days of notice regarding their picket plans until learning that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) policy requires 30 day notice. But the development did not stop the union reps and medical workers from wearing their union gear, sharing testimonies and ideas, and handing out flyers with their demands.

Ever since Summit Health, part of the VillageMD/Walgreens healthcare empire, took over the former Westmed facilities in Westchester, working conditions and benefits declined significantly, according to Summit employees.

Westmed Medical Group owned several healthcare facilities in Westchester, with its main locations in White Plains, Purchase, Yonkers, Rye, and New Rochelle. Last year, workers at these Summit Health locations and more joined 1199SEIU (United Healthcare Workers East) to organize in seek of improved pay and working conditions.

“Westmed was always family,” said Nurse Sima Xaba, who works in the urgent care unit at Summit Health in Rye. Diagnosed with breast cancer while working under Westmed, Xaba was able to receive all necessary treatments right at her workplace without seeing “a single bill,” Xaba said.

“Once we became Summit, I had to do a revision surgery…and they could not even book me without [requesting] $250 upfront. I pay that, [and] after the surgery I landed up with a bill of $1900,” Xaba also shared.

Xaba and other Rye employees concurred that Summit Health operates “like a factory” with a culture of “see more [patients], move fast.” The urgent care department is discouraged from having any empty exam rooms and doctors outside of urgent care are expected to hold all appointments under 15 minutes, workers said. White Plains employees provided similar critiques of Summit’s bureaucratic, business-first approach.

Nurse Angela Lauture said she loves working in the Rye urgent care department, “but now it’s just changed so much, and Summit makes it so hard.”

She and her colleagues no longer receive shift differential pay or holiday compensation under Summit, Lauture also said.

“My check just isn’t going as far [as it did with Westmed],” Lauture asserted. “I love using the providers here, but I feel like I’m going to have to go outside [of Summit] and even maybe go outside for my insurance.”

Patients are negatively impacted by the corporate takeover of medicine in Westchester as well, workers observed.

“Once Summit took over, we had an exodus from this [urgent care] department,” Lauture said.

As management struggles to maintain staffing, patient wait times are longer, and a 15-minute doctor appointment limit can also taint the patient experience, workers said.

“Quality care suffers when healthcare workers like us don’t have stable jobs, good benefits, and a strong voice at work to advocate for our patients,” the 1199SEIU Westchester website states.

Union officials also said they are hoping for public policy support for healthcare workers from elected officials like Congressman George Latimer, a District 16 Democrat, and the former county executive of Westchester.

“It’s not time to be quiet…it’s time to open your mouth,” said Angela Lane, Hudson Valley vice president of 1199SEIU.

Several workers also cited the lack of true negotiation with Summit Health management.

“[It’s] beyond frustrating that they won’t even talk to us,” nurse Bonnie Zdanoff commented.

But Summit Health Media Relations pushed back on the critiques.

“We have been actively negotiating with 1199SEIU to reach a first contract with our New York North team members” the company said when asked for comment. “These negotiations take a great deal of time as we try to find the best path forward without disrupting patient care.” 

Summit continued with the same statement provided to News 12 regarding the Day of Action: “Our current pay and health benefits are competitive with the market. We always have our patients’ best interests at heart and we will continue to deliver high-quality, compassionate care for our community.”

Xaba and others want Summit to consider the higher cost of living in Westchester relative to other areas in the United States with Summit locations and proportionately improve salaries and benefits.

“Cost of living in New York cannot be compared with any other state,” Xaba said.

Summit employees in White Plains and Rye discussed strategies for spreading the union’s message and gaining more support from their colleagues. The nurses emphasized that some of their colleagues are afraid to wear the union t-shirts and vocalize their demands. 

But many employees say they will continue to make their voices heard.

“How can I, as a healthcare worker, not afford the healthcare that I’m actually providing?” Xaba concluded.

Further protests and union action are planned.