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Resident physicians, interns and fellows at University of New Mexico Hospital have ratified their first contract since unionizing in January.

The package approved Aug. 15 for members of the Committee of Interns and Residents, part of the Service Employees International Union, includes salary increases that range from 5.3 percent for residents in their first years to 10.3 percent for the fifth year of training.

Resident physicians at the hospital were making $39,000 when they voted on the contract, said Amy Hall, the union's West Coast director.

The contract also includes a Patient Care Fund of $25,000, which residents can tap to purchase equipment for the hospital and items for patients.

Resident physician Gilbert Esser said this aspect of the union's agreement drew him in. He'd like to use the equipment fund to improve the quality of care for patients, he said.

"Getting an ultrasound in the ER is hard. It takes weeks," he said. "There was no way for the residents to buy this apparatus that was needed for an ultrasound."

The fund also will be used to translate patient information into different languages.

Other improvements in the contract are two weeks' paid maternity/paternity leave and taxi service for residents who work 30-hour shifts.

Union spokeswoman Cara Metz said the committee represents approximately 12,500 resident physicians in the United States and Puerto Rico.

She said the benefit for residents to join a union is "to look at what's best for patient care and residents."

Esser said he was at the first union meeting at UNM Hospital in 2006.

"I was rather impressed about the changes they (employees at some California hospitals) have been able to make in some of their hospitals," he said.

Esser, who is in his second year of residency in psychiatry, said residents already had a good relationship with UNM Hospital.

"It's nice to see that two reasonable sides can come to an agreement," he said. "The patients can benefit from a better hospital environment."

The contract goes back to the negotiating table in August 2008 and expires in August 2009, Hall said.