On Friday, over 200 community members rallied outside of Rhode Island Hospital, calling on Brown University Health — the hospital’s parent organization — to offer higher salaries and improved benefits to residents and fellows unionized under the Committee of Interns and Residents.
Hundreds of residents and fellows across four Brown-affiliated hospitals unionized under CIR, a local of the Service Employees International Union, in January 2025. Negotiations between the union and hospital administrators have been ongoing since June 2025.
According to Kit Quain — a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow and a member of the union bargaining team — the union rejected the hospital’s contract offer at a Tuesday bargaining session. Quain said that this was initially going to be the hospital’s last, best and final offer, but that community pressure led them to continue negotiating. The next session is on Oct. 6, according to the union.
The latest offer included a 6% salary increase for first-year residents, which would raise their salary from $69,750 to $73,935. Including an annual stipend of $5,250, RIH’s total salary offer comes to $79,185.
“I don’t think a lot of people know how many hours we work and how little control we have over our schedule,” said Lauren Connell, a pediatrics resident at RIH. “That’s one of the reasons that we’re all so fired up about this.” Residents’ hours are supposed to be limited to 80 hours a week.
But Quain said that the hospital’s offer did not sufficiently address the cost of living in Providence and that residents at neighboring hospitals are paid significantly more.
At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts, first-year residents are paid $82,929 and given a $10,000 annual stipend. At Mass General Brigham in Boston, Massachusetts first-year residents are paid a similar rate.
“Unlike every other profession in America, I don’t have the right to take my labor elsewhere if I don’t like the terms that my job is offering,” said Will Levesque, a third-year resident and union representative. “Therefore the only bargaining I have is collective bargaining.”
According to Quain, parental leave has also been a sticking point in negotiations. They said that RIH’s offer of six weeks of leave for a resident’s entire employment term, which can last between three and seven years, is inadequate.
“Since negotiations began in June 2025, both parties have made substantial progress, reaching 90 tentative agreements,” Kelly Brennan, a Brown Health spokesperson, wrote in an email to The Herald. “While several significant issues remain unresolved, the hospital has responded thoughtfully to CIR’s proposals, made meaningful movement at the bargaining table and continues to negotiate in good faith.”
At the picket, attendees also protested the hiring of former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens. Christopher Botelho ’13, a former Brown Health employee, quit his job as a data coordinator in response to the hiring of Owens.
“The front-line physicians that are the backbone of this institution have been asking you for adequate compensation,” said Botelho, who was featured as a speaker at the picket. “Instead, (Brown Health) then decided to hire a former official from the U.S. Border Patrol to police hospitals in this sanctuary city of Providence.”
State Rep. David Morales MPA’19, the Democratic nominee for Providence mayor, also joined the picket in solidarity. “We do not need more of our resident physicians and interns to burn out,” he said in a speech. “We cannot afford for you to leave our state, but many of you have been pushed to the brink, and that is why the community has your back.”
Emily Feil is a university news and metro editor covering staff & student labor and RISD. She is from Long Beach, NY and plans to concentrate in English and international & public affairs. In her free time, she can be found watching bad TV and reading good books.
