Dozens of UI Health Providers, State Rep. Gonzalez, Healthcare Workers Rally as UIC Board Continues to Stall Contract Bargaining

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) at UI Health — physician assistants, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives — held a lunchtime “Solidarity Break & Rally” today outside UI Health, joined by State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez and Internal Medicine Resident Dr. Prachi Patel from SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents (SEIU CIR), to demand the University of Illinois Board of Trustees end its effort to delay contract bargaining. (Click here to watch the full video.)

The rally comes after UIC’s Board of Trustees went around the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) — which had already denied UIC’s request to pause bargaining — to obtain a stay directly from the Fourth District Appellate Court. Bargaining sessions, which had produced tentative agreements on nearly all non-economic provisions, remain suspended while UIC’s certification appeal is litigated. SEIU Local 73 appealed the stay to the Illinois Supreme Court which denied the motion.

“UIC’s Board did something that should make every worker in this state pay attention: they went around the agency Illinois law designates to make that exact call, straight to the Fourth District Appellate Court — and got the very stay or delay in bargaining the Labor Board had already told them no on,” said Trumaine Reeves, Local 73 Executive Vice President. “When you don’t like the umpire’s call, you don’t get to go find a different umpire. That’s not a legal strategy. That’s a delay tactic — and our members see it for exactly what it is.”

“Recently, we have seen other healthcare institutions closer their doors, bringing an influx of patients to safety net facilities such as ours. The vast majority of our patient population is on Medicaid. Our role is vital to ensure the health of our community,” said Sarah Ehrhardt, Physician’s Assistant. “We are here today to tell UI Health we are not going anywhere. We will not back down until we have the rights and the contract we deserve.”

“Every day I see patients of all kinds. Cancer patients and transplant patients, patients who are young and patients who are old. I love helping and working with my patients but all too often we are working through lunch breaks and working seven days a week to keep up,” said Tracy Woods, APRN. “We understand our working conditions are patient care conditions, and the conditions UI Health puts us under are unacceptable. That’s why we’re here today. To show UI Health that they cannot hide!”

Speaking in solidarity, a spokesperson for SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents connected UIC’s delay tactic to the broader stakes for healthcare workers across job titles.

“I am here today in solidarity with my fellow siblings at Local 73 because their fight is our fight. As resident physicians, we know firsthand what it means to be overworked, understaffed, and told to wait for a voice on the job — that’s exactly what UIC is doing to APPs right now,” said Dr. Prachi Patel, second-year Internal Medicine resident and an elected delegate for the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR). “This isn’t just an issue between one employer and one bargaining unit. It’s part of a pattern across healthcare: hospitals delay, appeal, and relitigate instead of sitting down and bargaining in good faith. Healthcare workers across titles and unions are watching and taking notes. When my fellow siblings at Local 73 win, we all win. We will continue to stand in solidarity with our fellow APPs and hold UIC accountable.”

State Representative Edgar Gonzalez (D-23) tied the delay to the impact of federal Medicaid cuts on safety-net providers, including UI Health.

“What’s really frustrating is we have seen this delay tactic time and time and time again,” said State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez. “If you aren’t getting the wages you deserve. If you aren’t getting the working conditions you need to do your job properly, then they are messing with your livelihoods. Trump and congressional republicans are cutting Medicaid for your patients. We need to take care of the APPs so they can take care of their patients. It’s time for UIC to return to the table.”

SEIU Local 73 says the delay carries consequences beyond the bargaining table. UI Health served 1.5 million patients in fiscal year 2025, and the union says understaffing and provider turnover — the conditions APPs are bargaining to address — directly affect patient access and continuity of care, particularly as the hospital and safety-net clinics absorb new strain from federal Medicaid cuts enacted under the 2025 reconciliation law.

Today’s rally launches an escalating series of public actions SEIU Local 73 says will continue throughout the summer unless UIC returns to good-faith bargaining.