Providence operates eight hospitals in Oregon, including Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in southwest Portland. (Providence Health & Services)
In a week, thousands of nurses at six Providence hospitals in Oregon will go on a three-day strike that could be the largest in the state’s history.
The Oregon Nurses Association, which represents more than 3,000 nurses at the six hospitals, has delivered a 10-day notice to the management at the nonprofit Providence Health & Services, Oregon’s largest hospital group. The group intends for the strike to start at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, June 18.
It’s unclear how the strike might affect patients. Providence officials plan to bring in substitute nurses during the three days and say they’ll continue to provide comprehensive services.
The strike plans follow simmering tensions between Providence, the largest Portland-area employer and the nurses tied to Oregon’s Safe Staffing Law. The Legislature passed the bill and Gov. Tina Kotek signed it into law in 2023. House Bill 2697 sets a minimum for nurse-to-patient ratios and establishes a process for hospital employees and management to agree upon staffing levels and plans.
Other issues include competitive compensation and affordable health care plans, the nurses union said. The strike is set to unfold at hospitals that stretch from southern Oregon to the Portland region. The six hospitals are: Providence St. Vincent in southwest Portland, Providence Newberg, Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Providence Medford, Providence Hood River and Providence Milwaukie. Nurses at Providence Portland Medical Center in northeast Portland did not join the strike notice.
Providence officials say they have dealt fairly with the nurses. Nurses and leaders with the nurses association said the planned strike is necessary after a four-day mediation last week demonstrated hospital managers aren’t interested in making serious proposals.
“At Providence Medford, we are facing a staffing crisis, and our nurses are overworked, offered low quality health care, and paid less than the current market for nurses in Medford,” Caroline Allison, a registered nurse at Providence Medford, said in a release. “Adding insult to injury, it has now become clear that Providence appears to be systematically trying to undermine Oregon’s Safe Staffing Law. The Safe Staffing Law was intended to solve the nurse workforce shortage crisis and allow us to greatly enhance patient care. Instead, Providence has again made the decision to focus on its bottom lines instead of their workforce, their communities and their patients.”
Providence prepares for strike
Providence officials started planning for a potential strike months ago. Jennifer Burrows, a registered nurse and the chief executive of Providence Oregon, said the company’s priority is to provide top patient care during the strike.
“We’ve been preparing for months, and we have replacement workers coming in to help us care for patients and meet our commitments to our communities,” Burrows said in a statement. “ We expect to continue providing our comprehensive services during ONA’s work stoppage.”
Each of the six hospitals negotiates a separate contract and different salaries. Last fall, those negotiations started, Burrows said.
During that process, Providence offered “substantial wage increases” and the addition of language to contracts about the new nurse staffing law, Burrows said.
Across the six hospitals, Providence offered about 10% in salary increases in the first year of the contract, Burrows said. In her statement, she said the “typical” full-time nurse makes more than $100,000 a year.
Burrows said Providence will not meet with the union’s bargaining team until after the strike ends.
“I look forward to the conclusion of this walkout so Providence’s bargaining teams can get back to work negotiating agreements that will benefit our caregivers and their families, and ultimately, our patients and the community,” Burrows said.
Nurse staffing law complaints filed
Separately from the labor dispute, the Oregon Nurses Association has raised concerns with the Oregon Health Authority that some hospitals, including those in the Providence system, are not following the staffing law.
The nurses association filed a complaint with the authority on June 4 alleging Providence violated the law by submitting plans that hospital staffing committees did not agree upon with management. In its complaint, the union says this action violates the law.
“Providence Health and Services – Oregon, has begun a systematic and concerted mass violation of the Oregon Nurse staffing law through unilateral adoption of staffing plans and adoption of ‘plans’ that are not nurse staffing plans,” the complaint says. “Providence’s efforts appear to be designed to increase nurse patient loads in violation of existing staffing plans which themselves were already compliant with the safety standards.”
The complaint seeks enforcement of existing state law.
Gary Walker, a spokesman for Providence, said the organization intends to follow the law and believes the nurse union’s positions are inconsistent with the law’s requirements.
“For example, the staffing law plainly states that if the nurse staffing committees for certain units cannot agree on a staffing plan, they default to the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in the statute,” Walker said. “ONA is insisting that instead of applying the statutory ratio as the law requires, the parties instead apply the old staffing plans, which are expired and parts of which no longer align with the required ratios in the new staffing law.”
The Oregon Health Authority had no immediate comment on the complaint.
The Oregon Nurses Association represents 20,000 nurses and other health care workers statewide.
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