Last Friday Oregon's largest health care strike in history kicked off as about 5,000 nurses, doctors, and midwives walked off their Providence Hospitals jobs. Dissatisfaction with working conditions was a major reason for the strike, according to the Oregon Nurses Association.

One of Oregon’s largest healthcare providers, Providence, is a system in crisis that threatens the health and well-being of all Oregonians.
We are nurses, doctors, physician associates, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives from Providence facilities across Oregon. Some of us have been bargaining with Providence for more than a year and are working without a contract.
Providence has rejected our common-sense proposals to improve patient care and safety by not committing to safe staffing and other critical patient safety issues in our contracts. That’s why we’re going on strike starting January 10.
When healthcare workers are asked to do more with less, patient lives are at stake. Providence has pushed nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals to work under unsafe staffing conditions.
Providence hasn’t offered any real plan to increase retention. Providence simply isn’t competitive with other healthcare systems in the areas where they operate. That means fewer workers; longer ER lines; longer surgery waits; and more medical complications, as Oregonians can’t get the care they need quickly.
We have made the difficult decision to go on strike because Providence executives aren’t listening to us. We need Providence to put patients before profits and do everything they can to make sure healthcare professionals can work to the top of their practice and stay for the long term.
Today Providence paid for a full page ad in the Sunday Oregonian newspaper. I'm a digital subscriber. Here's screenshots of the ad, which I found annoying and demeaning toward nurses.

Providence Health & Services claims that the Oregon Nurses Association called a strike with the intent of cancelling patient appointments and services. I doubt there's any solid evidence supporting that assertion, and it goes against the ONA statement of concern for patient well-being.
And Providence also claims the Oregon Nurses Association is fully responsible for disruptions to patient care. Huh?
Negotiations over union contracts obviously involve two parties, the employer and the employees. Sure, often each side blames the other for being unreasonable if a strike occurs after negotiations break down, but usually this is hyperbole. Each side should shoulder some blame for the strike.
Hopefully Providence isn't operating under a fantasy that the public is more sympathetic to a giant health care corporation than to the nurses and doctors who provide care at the eight Providence hospitals around Oregon.
I deeply doubt this is the case.
When someone needs care at a hospital, it is given by nurses and doctors, not by the management of the entity that owns and runs the hospital. I've appreciated the competency and friendliness of the doctors and nurses who handled my fairly recent hernia and eye operations at Salem Health, along with screening colonoscopies. Administrators of the health care organization responsible for my care mean nothing to me.
After ten years of being a member of Regence Medicare Advantage, I just switched to a Providence Medicare Advantage plan after Regence and Salem Health failed to agree on a 2025 contract, which meant that I'd have to pay more for out-of-network care from Salem Health as of January 1.
So far (just twelve days), I'm satisfied with Providence Medicare Advantage. Several times I've phoned Providence with questions about my new insurance plan. The people I've talked with have been helpful and pleasant. But again, I'm thankful for the front-line staff at Providence, not management.
The financial aspect of the offer Providence says it has made to nurses and doctors seems pretty reasonable. But it appears that working conditions and staffing levels may be the bigger concern for the nurses and doctors. I'm on their side, as I strongly suspect a majority of Oregonians are.
Recent Comments