Mayo Clinic

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 28, 1967

168 N.L.R.B. 557 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

MAYO CLINIC 557
Mayo Clinic, Employer-Petitioner and Hotel , that Mayo Clinic physicians do serve on the medi-
Hospital, Restaurant and Tavern Employees , Local cal staffs of these two hospitals. In addition, it also
21, AFL-CIO. Case 18-RM-586 appears from the record that other Mayo Clinic per-
November 28,1967
sonnel may at times perform laboratory test, X-
rays, and occupational therapy within the hospitals.
However, the charges for such services are ad-
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ministered and collected by the Clinic. Similarly,
ELECTION when a Clinic patient is required to be hospitalized
in either St. Mary's or Rochester Methodist
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of Hospitals, the charges for the hospital room and the
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hospital care and services are administered and col-
hearing was held before E. G. Rotenberry, Hearing lected entirely by the respective hospitals.
Officer of the National Labor Relations Board.1 Mayo Clinic takes the position that, in practice,
Thereafter, the Employer-Petitioner, herein it is operated like a typical physician's office, the
referred to as the Employer, Mayo Clinic, or Clinic, only difference being that the Clinic has more facili-
filed a brief with the Board. ties immediately available. Thus, when patients
The Hearing Officer's rulings made at the hearing come to the Clinic from all over the world, either by
are free from prejudicial error, and are hereby af- referral or on their own initiative, each is assigned
firmed. to one of the approximately 470 staff physicians
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board who consults with the patient. The staff physician
finds: has at his disposal the complete diagnostic
1. Mayo Clinic, located in Rochester, Min- resources of the Clinic, including specialists in
nesota, is a voluntary, nonprofit, association of many fields of medicine, and highly specialized
physicians engaged in the practice of medicine. The equipment. Ambulatory patients, if they elect to
Clinic's medical activities are carried on in a com- remain at Rochester, are treated by a Mayo Clinic
plex of interconnected buildings; i.e., Mayo Build- physician or physicians on an "out-patient" basis.
ing, Plummer Building, Damon Building, the Medi- It also appears that patients have the option, after
cal Science Building, and the Harwick Building. A they have been examined, to return home to their
board of governors, consisting of 12 individuals, 10 own private physicians or remain for treatment at
physicians and 2 administrative members, the Clinic by its staff personnel. Finally, it appears
establishes the policies and controls the activities of that 90 percent of the patients utilizing the Clinic
the Clinic. The Clinic operates 22 sections of inter- pay for their own medical care.3 and, if necssary,
nal medicine; various sections of medical special- the Clinic utilizes the outside personnel, such as
ties, such as psychiatry and neurology; and special collection agencies, to collect its fees for such medi-
surgical sections. It has approximately 470 staff cal services rendered.
physicians and approximately 2,400 paramedical Although the Clinic has engineering, publication,
employees in its employ. All of the property and and photography departments which are responsi-
equipment utilized by the Clinic is owned by the ble for developing and designing medical devices
Mayo Foundation, a nonprofit charitable Min- and recording and disseminating the discoveries of
nesota corporation, and is leased to the Clinic. Pur- the Clinic's staff, such operations appear incidental
suant to the lease, all of the earnings of the Clinic to the primary purpose of the Mayo Clinic, which is
after paying expenses, including salaries to its the practice of medicine.
physicians, are paid by the Clinic to the Mayo To service its nearly 200,000 patients each year,4
Foundation. who pay approximately $39,800,000 in fees, the
Mayo Clinic has no beds or any other facilities of Clinic purchases in excess of $6,000,000 worth of
its own for housing patients overnight. "In pa- supplies and equipment annually, $2,000,000 of
tients," that is, patients who need overnight care, which originate outside the State of Minnesota.
are treated at two nearby nonprofit hospitals, Saint Thus, in 1966, the Clinic purchased heart valves
Mary's Hospital and Rochester Methodist valued at $92,000 from California and Pennsyl-
Hospital.2 Mayo Clinic does not operate the afore- vania; chemicals valued at $21,000 from Missouri;
mentioned hospitals and has no voice in the formu- syringes, gauze, and bandages valued at $28,000
lation of their policies. It does appear, however, from Illinois; glassware valued at $50,000 from
I Pursuant to the Board 's Rules and Regulations , Series 8, as amended,
the Regional Director issued an order transferring the case to the Board
for decision
2 Olmsted Community Hospital and Rochester State Hospital, both
government hospitals , are located in Rochester , Minnesota. It appears
from the record that Mayo Clinic physicians visit some patients in the
aforementioned hospitals from time to time.
' Pursuant to contracts with various airlines, industrial concerns, etc ,
Mayo Clinic physicians and staff regularly examine the personnel of such
airlines and industrial concerns. Moreover, it also appears that the Clinic
is doing some research on a contract basic for the Air Force , and is an-
ticipating entering into a contract with the Vocational Rehabilitation Ad-
ministration for some services to be performed in the artificial kidney pro-
gram.
4 Forty-seven percent of the Clinic 's patients come from areas outside
the State of Minnesota.
168 NLRB No. 79
558 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL
Pennsylvania and Illinois; and X-ray film valued at
$600,000 from New York. During this same period,
continuing investment in capital improvements
required the shipment from points outside the State
of Minnesota of furniture ($69,700), steel
($1,000,000), steel rods ($85,000), and cement
($56,000).
In addition, the record also shows that staff
physicians of Mayo clinic engage in substantial
amounts of travel outside the State of Minnesota to
attend and participate in meetings of the medical
profession as well as to study and observe medical
techniques. The cost of such travel, which is paid
by Mayo Clinic, is estimated to be between
$350,000 and $400,000 per year. In addition, spe-
cial facilities have been prepared for the numerous
bags of mail and drug samples which are received
from throughout the entire country each day.
Moreover, the number of long-distance telephone
calls made by Mayo Clinic staff personnel to points
outside the State of Minnesota has warranted the
soon-to-be installed WATS communication system.
From the foregoing facts, both Mayo Clinic and
the Union take the position that the Clinic is not a
hospital- within the meaning of Section 2(2) of the
Act, and that the Clinic is not primarily engaged in
education and research activities. In addition, both
parties urge that Mayo Clinic's operation has a sub-
stantial impact on commerce, and that the Board
should assert jurisdiction in this case.
s An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all
the eligible voters , must be filed by the Employer with the Regional
Director for Region 18 within 7 days after the date of this Decision and
Direction of Election . The list may initially be used by the Regional
Director to assist in determining an adequate showing of interest . The Re-
gional Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election
LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
It is clear from the facts set forth above that the
operations of Mayo Clinic affect commerce within
the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
As the parties agree that the Board should assertju-
risdiction herein, and as no claim is advanced, and
it does not in this record appear, that Mayo Clinic
is a nonprofit hospital and/or is primarily engaged
in education and research, we shall, consistent with
the request of all interested parties, assert jurisdic-
tion in this case.
2. The labor organization involved claims to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of employees of the Em-
ployer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. We find that the following employees of the
Employer, as agreed to by the parties at the hearing,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All diagnostic X-ray technicians employed
by Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; ex-
cluding office-clerical employees, guards, and
professional employees as defined in the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, as amended, and
all other employees.
[Direction of Election 5 omitted from publication.]
when he shall have determined that an adequate showing of interest
among the employees in the unit found appropriate has been established.
No extension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional
Director except in extraordinary circumstances . Failure to comply with
this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever
proper objections are filed. Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236