Union Backs Family Physician After Logan Health Lets Contract Lapse

As a group gathered inside the Logan Health Glacier Conference Center Tuesday evening, Tim Jenkins, the chief negotiator for the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), began the meeting with a Bible verse from Ecclesiastes.

 “‘And where one may be overpowered, two can stand their ground, a cord of three is not quickly broken,’” Jenkins recited. “And here we are, a cord of three — clinicians, colleagues, community — and so we stand not broken tonight.”

The assembly had coalesced on behalf of Dr. Ruben Hipolito, a family practice provider at Logan Health since 2019. At the end of June, physician leaders informed Hipolito that his employment contract would not be renewed. Hipolito currently sees around 2,000 patients at Logan Health.

He was no longer a good fit, they said. When pressed, the hospital representatives said it had to do with patient satisfaction scores, recalled UAPD representatives Jenkins and Alexandria Honey, who both sat in on the meeting virtually.

Earlier this year, primary care physicians voted to unionize across the hospital’s northwest clinics to receive representation from UAPD. Hipolito helped lead the organizing effort behind the scenes, and when contract negotiations began in April he became head of the provider’s bargaining committee.

In May, Hipolito sent an email to his service line director and others who oversee his employment contract. During his contract renewal last September, he reminded his supervisors in the email, the hospital had offered him a single-year contract and scheduled another meeting in six months to determine whether Hipolito wished to continue working for Logan Health. That stipulation was in place to revisit concerns he’d voiced over certain details of his contract, he explained.

“As you may recall, when we met about my contract renewal in September, I was initially offered a 2 yr contract which was rescinded in place of a 1 yr contract,” Hipolito wrote in a May 26 email. “At the time it was also stated there was to be a meeting at 6 months to ascertain my desire for continued employment with Logan Health. We are coming up on 8 months from that time and I wanted to check in and see if that meeting was still felt to be necessary?”

After some delay, Hipolito met with physician leaders at the end of June. There, they informed him of the hospital’s decision not to renew his contract after it expired at the end of September.

Jenkins, who has been at the bargaining table with Logan Health physicians over the past several months, said basing the decision on patient satisfaction doesn’t add up. Hipolito’s profile on Logan Health’s website currently shows a patient rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars, with 370 reviews.

“Everyone’s pretty upset obviously because Ruben is pretty well loved,” Jenkins said. “It appears to be retaliation based on the set of facts I’m aware of right now.”  

Jenkins put in an information request for the evidence supporting the hospital’s decision and its reasoning, but said he has yet to receive a response.

While they don’t yet fully understand Logan Health’s decision not to renew Hipolito’s contract, Jenkins said he’s seen hospitals take similar tactics when terminating other contracts he’s helped negotiate. In October 2024, Monterey County fired a clinic physician shortly after he spoke out about concerns with patient care. The doctor was reinstated the following January after his fellow physicians went on a half-day strike and UAPD representatives filed a legal complaint with the state’s labor board.

“We are bargaining with the employer over the decision,” Jenkins said about Logan Health, noting that the union has some time before Hipolito’s contract expires at the end of September. “Our hope is that Logan Health sees all the support he has and reconsiders.”

According to Honey, two years is the standard for primary care provider contracts.

At his practice as of November, Hipolito had just under 2,000 patients in his panel. With an open panel, meaning he is always accepting new cases, Hipolito said new patients often ask him whether he’s going anywhere.

“I tell them no, but,” Hipolito trailed off. “There are fewer doctors who have open panels still. For me to be one of the docs that increases their patient access, I’m one of the few doctors who make same day slots … my schedule and practice is all about patient accessibility.”

 “I’m a doctor who works hard, and then they’re choosing to let me go,” he continued. “But my patients are going to be the ones who are displaced. That’s not fair.”

Hipolito said while he’s begun mapping out contingency plans, he’s become more resolved in his efforts around organizing.

“Ultimately I want to work with Logan Health because I know Logan Health can be a great organization. That’s why I’m fighting for change,” Hipolito said. “I have a firm unnerving resolve that this is the right thing to be doing. I think that’s the only thing that’s been keeping me sane.”

Since the announcement, UAPD has received nearly 30 letters from Hipolito’s patients expressing their support.

In response to a request for comment, a Logan Health spokesperson said the decision to not renew a physician’s contract “predates the provider union activity at Logan Health.”

“In addition, claims that thousands of patients will be left without access to a physician are inaccurate,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to the Beacon. “Our physician recruitment efforts remain strong, with 21 primary care providers added over the past year, five of whom are scheduled to join our organization this fall.”

The spokesperson said Logan Health does not discuss details regarding individual’s employment, and “respects the privacy of our employees and their right to engage in protected activities under applicable labor laws.”

“The physician leaders at Logan Health stand behind their decisions to recruit and retain providers and staff who are aligned with our values and culture,” they said. “We remain confident that our patients and community will continue to have access to the high-quality primary care services they need and expect from us.”

At Tuesday’s gathering, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Sam Forstag, Kalispell Councilor Kyle Waterman, and Logan Health nurse and union organizer Donna Nelson took to the podium to question the decision to not renew Hipolito’s contract and show their support for the provider’s union. Several patients shared personal testimonies about having Hipolito as their family’s provider, including Holly Penrod.

An essential caregiver for both her parents and now her twin sons, Penrod said all six people in her family have gone to Hipolito for their care. Over the past seven years, she said Hipolito has helped her and her family through epilepsy, cancer, dementia, and other health issues.  

“Whenever we speak of Dr. Hipolito spanning the bridge of pediatrics to geriatrics and everything in between, we’re it,” Penrod said. “My sons trust Dr. Hipolito. I can’t recapture that with another doctor.”

She recalled one of her mom’s last telehealth appointments with Hipolito as she neared the final days of her life. With a fuzzy cognition, her mom faded in and out during the virtual appointment.

“As it came to a close, she looked directly at the computer and said, ‘I love you Dr. Hipolito,’” Penrod recalled. “To which he responded, ‘I love you too Reba.’ Now how is that not the right fit for our community?”

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