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"People need to know the situation," said Dr. Jinping Xu, a professor at Wayne State University. Xu is referring to several reports released recently outlining the state of the health care profession, particularly relating to primary care physicians. ... Xu said the primary care workforce is not growing fast enough for the population, and one of the main reasons is that primary care doctors are overworked and underpaid. (Vicci, 4/1)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: More Patients Are Losing Their Doctors — And Trust In The Primary Care System

First, her favorite doctor in Providence, Rhode Island, retired. Then her other doctor at a health center a few miles away left the practice. Now, Piedad Fred has developed a new chronic condition: distrust in the American medical system. “I don’t know,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “To go to a doctor that doesn’t know who you are? That doesn’t know what allergies you have, the medicines that make you feel bad? It’s difficult.” (Arditi, 4/2)

A group of more than 1,000 residents and fellows at UChicago Medicine is taking steps to unionize, following a recent, similar effort by peers at Northwestern Medicine. The doctors filed a petition Monday morning with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a formal election to decide whether to unionize under the Committee of Interns and Residents, a union representing resident physicians and fellows. Residents often work at hospitals after earning medical degrees, as they train to become specific types of doctors. (Schencker, 4/1)

In what’s expected to be a three-day strike impacting three South Bay hospitals and possibly patient care, thousands of Santa Clara County nurses plan to walk off the job early Tuesday in protest over workplace conditions, wages and staffing ratios. The strike — the first in the union’s history — is scheduled to start at 4:59 a.m. Tuesday and end at 6:59 a.m. on Friday. It could affect county-owned clinics as well as its three hospitals. (Hase, 4/1)

Two decades ago, a group of senior-housing executives came up with a way to raise revenue and reduce costs at assisted-living homes. Using stopwatches, they timed caregivers performing various tasks, from making beds to changing soiled briefs, and fed the information into a program they began using to determine staffing. Brookdale Senior Living, the leading operator of senior homes with 652 facilities, acquired the algorithm-based system and used it to set staffing at its properties across the nation. But as Brookdale’s empire grew, employees complained the system, known as “Service Alignment,” failed to capture the nuances of caring for vulnerable seniors, documents and interviews show. (MacMillan and Rowland, 4/1)

Thousands of North Carolinians with intellectual and developmental disabilities rely on caregivers, known as direct support professionals, for help with everyday tasks like bathing and eating. But those workers are in short supply. A recent study by The Arc of North Carolina, a nonprofit that advocates for people with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other conditions, found that the state needs at least 20,000 more direct support professionals to meet the current demand. (Baxley, 4/2)