The largest health care workers strike in Oregon’s history continued through the weekend with little progress, as thousands of Providence Oregon nurses and doctors strike for higher pay and better working conditions.

The nurses union said nearly 5,000 nurses planned to walk out from all eight Providence hospitals in Oregon along with close to 150 physicians and advanced practitioners.

Talks had stalled out since the Oregon Nurses Association first delivered a 10-day strike notice to Providence. Providence executives said in a Saturday press conference that they were ready to talk federal mediators to start the process for returning to the negotiating table, after preparing for the strike’s potential impact on operations.

“We’re ready to start today at both Providence Medford and Providence Newberg,” said Jennifer Burrows, chief executive of Providence Oregon. “We’re also making plans to set dates for when we can start negotiating with the other bargaining units for the acute care nurses.”

Providence has hired about 2,000 temporary replacement nurses across the eight hospitals. Burrows said she doesn’t know how much the replacements will cost, but that it will be “an economic hit.”

Providence nurses, and some doctors, walk out as open-ended strike begins

Providence St. Vincent Medical Center may be especially impacted, with 70 physicians having joined the strike. The emergency department could see longer wait times, according to Providence executive Ben LeBlanc.

Meanwhile, hundreds of nurses and hospitalists rallied at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on Saturday, with appearances from U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici. Most speakers voiced frustrations with Providence for what they said was an unwillingness to participate in negotiations.

“Their words and their actions simply are not the same,” nurse Richard Botterill said. “It’s their lack of action that is detrimental to the well-being and health care of our patients and the communities we serve across the state.”

The Providence health care strike, explained

Striking health care workers also held picket lines at each Providence location. In Milwaukie, nurse Rebekah Van Dyke said she’s hoping the strike will remedy longstanding staffing issues at the hospital. She said it’s common to not have enough nurses to meet demand.

“I’ve been here a year and a half — I’m considered one of the more experienced nurses,” Van Dyke said. “The numbers just keep dwindling and so we just really need to be able to be competitive.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/01/12/providence-strike-continues-through-weekend/