After five days of Oregon’s largest health-care strike, including the state’s first doctors’ work stoppage, Providence Health announced it is ready to return to the bargaining table. The Oregon Nurses Association is calling for competitive wages and resolution of what it calls systemic, unsafe staffing issues.
Kathy Keane, a nurse at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center who has been on the picket line, said Providence needs to focus on recruiting and retaining skilled staff.
“I want to work with the best of the best. And when we are the lowest-paid caregivers in the Portland metro area, it’s hard to argue why people should come here and stay here long-term,” she explained.
Providence said it is ready to return to the bargaining table, thanks in part to what it calls an “unprecedented number” of union nurses who have chosen not to strike. Earlier this week, Providence filed an unfair-labor-practice complaint, saying the nurses’ association unlawfully delayed bargaining by refusing to meet and not responding to proposals in a timely manner.
A recent poll conducted by the Oregon Nurses Association found more than 90% of patients reported a negative experience with Providence, and support the strike.
Laura Wadlin, a Providence patient since she was a kid, said has had many discouraging experiences with rushed providers.
“Every time I go back, my fears are only confirmed, so that really reinforces the inclination not to even try,” she said.
Keane and other union members are also concerned about acuity, or the level of care that a patient needs based on how sick they are. Keane said she wants nursing assignments tailored more towards patient need, rather than focusing on a staff-to-patient ratio, and said this issue is not unique to St. Vincent.
“This is something that system-wide we’ve seen issues with, so we know that systemic issues need systemic change, and that’s really what we’re working towards,” she continued.
Providence said it is committed to following Oregon’s staffing law, and is taking acuity into account. The nurses’ association says 305 unsafe staffing complaints were filed against Providence in 2024.
