St Charles Health System released the following statement regarding four St. Charles Medical Group providers planning their intention to unionize. St. Charles Medical Group is the employed provider arm of St. Charles Health System. It encompasses about 300 physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, licensed clinical psychologists and other health professionals. Many providers who practice in St. Charles' hospitals are not part of this group. "As always, we want to reassure our community that patient care is and will continue to be our top priority," said Dr. Jeff Absalon, chief physician executive for St. Charles Health System. "We greatly value our employed providers and respect their right to take this step, although we'd far prefer to work directly with them in partnership while navigating these unprecedented times. We know many health care workers are frustrated and exhausted after the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our focus as individuals and a health system needs to be on healing and recovering from the pandemic and stabilizing our finances so that we can preserve and strengthen the vital health care services that we provide to our community."