Hundreds gather outside Providence Medford on first day of nurses strike – Ashland News

The strike, described as the largest in Oregon history, is expected to last three days; temporary nurses will be hired to replace the strikers for a five-day break

By Nick Morgan, Rogue Valley Times

A crowd of at least 200 striking nurses and community allies surrounded Providence Medford Medical Center on Tuesday as the Southern Oregon portion of the largest nurses strike in state history began in earnest.

The strike in Medford began at 6 a.m. Tuesday, when 125 people were “on the line,” said Scott Palmer, chief of staff of the Oregon Nurses Association. Shortly after 10 a.m., the number of strikers had roughly doubled.

“I estimate we’ve doubled that number since this morning,” Palmer said. “That’s a great turnout for the first day of the strike.”

Palmer said nurses and other staff were up long before dawn making final preparations for the strike, such as making sure nurses had enough food and water and enough signs.

Medford nurses are one of six hospitals in Providence, Oregon, on strike. A total of 3,000 nurses are demanding better pay, better benefits and fair contracts to better recruit new staff and retain existing staff. The local hospital joins Providence Hood River, Providence Milwaukie, Providence Newberg, Providence St. Vincent in Portland and Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City.

The three-day strike will last until 8 p.m. on Thursday, but temporary nurses have been hired to replace the striking nurses every five days.

Hospital CEO Chris Pizzi said when a replaced nurse comes to work on Friday, hospital staff will check the schedule and inform them of their next shift. Some nurses who were not replaced may be contacted by their direct supervisor, known as “core leaders.”

“We are not locking out nurses,” Pizzi said, adding that nurses and union leadership knew the contract renewal period was five days when they notified the hospital of a three-day strike.

Whitney Evans, a charge nurse in Providence Medford’s operating room and vice president of the bargaining unit, carried a sign that read, “My bra supports me better than you.” She said she never thought she would have to strike.

“I never thought I would have to do this, but they forced us to do it and we have to fight for a fair contract,” Evans said.

Evans said that “recruitment and retention is of tremendous importance to me” because currently “almost half” of the nurses she works with in the operating room are traveling nurses.

She said she received “great support” from her non-union colleagues.

“I received text messages today from some of my surgeons expressing their support,” Evans said.

Many motorists honked in support of the striking nurses as they passed Crater Lake Avenue near the McAndrews intersection. Evans was encouraged by the signs of support.

“It’s a great feeling to have the support of the community,” Evans said. “We’re doing this for them.”

Providence Medford said in an email that the transition to replacement nurses this morning was “smooth” and that it is working with a “nationally recognized agency with a proven track record” of hiring qualified, experienced nurses for the duration of the strike.

“This includes nurses in the specialty care areas of our ministry,” Providence’s fact sheet states.

Providence also released information on its latest wage proposal, which would increase base pay for nurses who work three 12-hour shifts per week by $17,000 to $22,000.

It shows that the starting wage for a nurse just starting out is $49.13 an hour, 79 cents less than Asante’s first-year starting wage of $49.92. But Providence will raise the wage to $50.07 after six months. The first- through fifth-year wages are all less than a dollar an hour more than the wage Asante negotiated last year.

Governor Tina Kotek spoke about the strike during a virtual hearing with EO Media Group on Tuesday.

“I think it’s important that nurses are heard,” Kotek said.

The governor said she saw a genuine collaboration between hospital administrators and nurses last year with the passage of the Safe Staffing Act. She said she was “really encouraged” when she signed the bill because of the way hospitals and nurses worked together, and “I want to try to get back to that.”

“I think the strike sends a message that Providence is not doing it quite right,” Kotek said

Even if Providence is able to maintain services during the strike, Kotek said, “we have to get this sorted out.” Hospitals are major employers and essential to the community.

“And the people who do this work are of utmost importance,” she said.

Kotek expressed hope that Providence could resolve these strikes as a whole health care system and not just at individual locations.

“I want them to understand this as a system – I think that would be best for the state,” Kotek said.

Reach reporter Nick Morgan at [email protected] or 458-488-2036. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.

Related story: Thousands of Providence nurses strike at six hospitals this week (Oregon Capital Chronicle, June 18, 2024)