Largest nursing strike in Oregon leads to delays in a handful of patient treatments

In an effort to increase their wages and reduce staffing levels, 3,000 nurses at the Providence hospital system in Oregon are on the second day of their strike for a pay raise.

Nurses from six Providence hospitals are planning a three-day strike, making it the largest nurses’ strike in the state’s history.

The strike was preceded by months of collective bargaining between the hospital and the nurses’ union.

To maintain hospital operations, Providence Hospital hired replacement staff for the week.

“The nurses at Providence made sure the handoff went smoothly and that our replacement nurses had all the information they needed to ensure we could continue to provide excellent care,” Jennifer Gentry, Providence’s chief nursing officer, told KATU.

However, a patient received a call on Monday that his angiography scheduled for Tuesday would have to be postponed for a few weeks.

“When I heard the nurses were going on strike that same day, I thought, ‘oh my God,'” Rodney Gibino told KPTV. “For me, this is not an emergency. My concern is if I was sick and I needed to do something with the angiogram and it got canceled… for someone who really has heart problems, that would be terrible.”

Gentry said only a “handful” of cases had been delayed.

“We communicate directly with our patients if a delay is necessary. There has been no blanket closure of services,” Gentry told KPTV.

The striking nurses are demanding a pay raise from Providence and also an increase in health insurance benefits. Some nurses report having to pay many expenses out of pocket and that some have had to pay up to $1,000 a month for health insurance to cover a family member’s medical needs.

Gentry said the company covers 82 percent of its employees’ health insurance costs; the national industry average is 70 percent.

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Nursing staff also complain about the increased staffing levels. However, Providence said it was complying with the state’s safe staffing law, which was signed in August.

Last year, 1,300 nurses at Providence Medical Center went on strike for five days. Weeks later, they reached a collective bargaining agreement with the hospital that increased wages by 17 to 26 percent over two years.