Nurses Strike at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital
Photo: ONA
By Joshuah Albert
Hood River, Ore, June 20, 2024 – Hundreds of Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) members from six Providence hospitals including Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, have participated in a three-day strike that began early Tuesday, June 18. At some hospitals, picket lines began forming at 6 a.m. Nurses are striking for adequate paid leave, fair labor practices, affordable health insurance fair market wages, and smaller patient-to-nurse ratios.
The total turnout of strikers at all six hospitals was in the thousands, as friends and families, community allies, and fellow union members showed up to support the strike.
“We can’t keep our kids safe with high-class sizes, you can’t keep your patients safe with high ratios. It’s unacceptable.” Jessica Lobell, RN a member of Providence St. Vincent’s ONA bargaining team. “We need patient loads that let us give the appropriate amount of care. If I can’t spend quality time with a patient I might miss an important sign that could indicate they are declining.”
Davina Craig, a labor and delivery nurse at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital said “We had about 20 nurses out striking at all times, we would work in shifts.”
Craig noted that going on strike was not an easy decision for nurses.
“We haven’t had a strike at this hospital since the 70’s,” said Craig.
Craig also noted that she like other ONA members felt that Providence was “not your ordinary health system” and that they had “come out very well after the Pandemic” and yet were continuing to try and up patient loads and offer unfair wages at the bargaining table.
Craig thanked the community for their support of the strike.
“We want to thank the community for their support throughout this strike, it meant too much to us that people would pull over and get out of their cars to shake our hands,” said Craig.
Craig also shared that one patient had shown solidarity with Nurses by saying he would delay receiving care at the hospital until the strike was over. She noted that those in need should still seek care but that the gesture of solidarity was deeply appreciated.
The ONA also issued a statement to reassure patients:
Photo: ONA
“To all our patients and to those who receive services at Providence hospitals: If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care! Patients should seek hospital care immediately if they need it. We would rather be the ones providing that care, but Providence management has forced our hand and we find ourselves on the picket line advocating for you, our communities, and our colleagues. Going into the hospital to get the care you need is NOT crossing our strike line. In fact, we invite you to come join us on the strike line after you've gotten the care you need.”
Craig also shared that nurses were deeply upset by Providence’s “lockout”.
While Nurses had originally planned to strike for three days, due to a “lockout caused by Providence hiring travel nurses, nurses will experience a five day delay in returning to their regularly scheduled shifts after the strike. Craig shared that such practices disrupt the community’s access to regular care and constitute unfair labor practices according to the ONA. ONA plans to file an unfair labor practices complaint with Oregon Health Authority on June 20th in response to the news.
From Oregon Nurese Association:
“ONA had provided a legally required 10-day Strike Notice to Providence on June 7, indicating that nurses would unconditionally offer to return to work at 6 a.m. on Friday, June 21. However, Providence announced that it would only welcome nurses back to their regular shifts starting at 7 a.m. on Sunday, June 23.
In their Strike Notice, ONA warned that if Providence locked out, refused to reinstate, or delayed the reinstatement of nurses, picketing would continue. Given Providence’s refusal to reinstate the nurses, ONA will picket until nurses are back on their regular schedules.
Providence’s selective and delayed return of some employees constitutes an unlawful partial lockout, violating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). ONA is filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge on June 20 and will also seek backpay for all affected nurses.
ONA stands in solidarity with all nurses and supports their federal right to honor the picket line in the face of Providence’s actions. ONA will vigorously defend any nurse who chooses not to cross the picket line.”
Photo: ONA
Providence Responds
Providence Hood River,’s Executive Director Susan Frost sent a news statement to CCCNews on June 20. The release urged union leaders to prioritize patient safety and privacy. According to Providence, the union's actions have put patient safety at risk, and they accused the union of playing the media and using the strike for public relations.
"Providence prioritizes patient care. Bringing in a replacement nursing workforce and building clinical contingency plans is a complex process across six hospitals," the statement read. "Doing it well – as we did Tuesday – takes a total commitment of hundreds of leaders, volunteers and replacement workers. We also want to honor our contractual replacement period with our temporary nurses. Bottom line: Union leaders knew there would be a five-day replacement period. They’re playing the media, and putting our nurses in the middle.”
Providence criticized the union for refusing to engage in timely bargaining and mediation, stating that union leadership walked away from negotiations and issued strike notices instead. They emphasized that the staffing ratios in question are mandated by a law that the ONA helped write.
"Union leadership refused to agree to bargaining dates on multiple occasions. Providence has implemented the law as agreed to by the coalition that wrote it – the coalition ONA was part of until last week," Providence noted. "If union leaders want to change the law they championed, they should go back to the legislature, instead of striking over something Providence can’t change."
Following Providence’s statement ONA reported that the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) had confirmed ONA’s interpretation of Oregon’s nurse staffing law underlying their complaints against Providence.
”Safe staffing has been a key issue in contract negotiations, and Providence’s inability to meet these essential requirements, coupled with efforts to undermine the staffing law, significantly influenced the nurses’ decision to strike,” said ONA.
”Providence submitted staffing plans to OHA for approval that were never agreed upon by nurses and were unilaterally adopted by management without the required approval from the nurse staffing committee. According to OHA, such an action would violate Oregon’s staffing law, as ONA represented nurses have been claiming. Additionally, Providence’s proposals at the bargaining table sought to eliminate the legal requirement for staffing committee agreement, which nurses have steadfastly refused to accept.
The OHA letter includes the following excerpts that illustrate these points:
"The NSC (nurse staffing committee) would need to vote to approve the amended NSP (nurse staffing plan) or new NSP with a quorum of members present and by a majority vote with an equal number of direct care staff and managers voting, in order for OHA to consider a plan to be adopted. See OAR 333-503-0005(2)(a)(A)."
"The new hospital staffing laws clearly require NSCs to develop a hospital-wide NSP that includes the nurse-to-patient statutory ratios (or an agreed upon deviation) and addresses the staffing for patients where the statutory ratios do not apply. See ORS 441.762. Hospitals are required to implement such plans. See ORS 441.763. A hospital that is implementing the nurse-to-patient statutory ratios but does not have an adopted NSP would be found in violation of ORS 441.792(2)(c) if a valid complaint is received."
Providence called for union leaders to put patient privacy and safety first and expressed hope that the union would accept bargaining and mediation dates promptly at the conclusion of the strike.
Providence has released several news updates on their website since the strike.
About the Oregon Nurses Association
The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) represents a diverse community of 20,000 nurses and healthcare professionals across Oregon. The ONA advocates for critical issues affecting patients, nurses, and healthcare professionals, including a more effective, affordable, and accessible healthcare system; better working conditions for all healthcare professionals; and healthier communities. For more information, visit www.OregonRN.org.
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