Historic Strike Alert: Oregon’s Largest Nurses’ and Other Healthcare Workers’ Strike and First Doctors’ Strike to Begin at 6 a.m. on Jan. 10

Press Release

Hospitals and clinics across the state will be affected

PORTLAND, Ore.-Nearly 5,000 Oregon nurses, other healthcare workers and doctors in the Providence Health & Services system plan to begin a historic strike at 6 a.m., PST, Friday, Jan. 10. It will be Oregon's largest strike ever of nurses and other healthcare workers and the state's first strike by doctors. The walkout will affect 14 hospitals and clinics throughout the state.

The Oregon Nurses Association said the workers are walking out because of continuing inaction at the bargaining table on solutions for chronic understaffing, increased caseloads, and uncompetitive wages and benefits. Providence is the state's largest healthcare company and is illegally refusing to bargain with its workers.

This is one of the very few strikes involving doctors ever in the nation. Doctors who will be on strike work at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and Providence Women's Clinic.

Media availabilities with nurses and doctors:

Day before strike: Thursday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. PST

Where: ONA office: 18765 SW Boones Ferry Road, #200, Tualatin, Ore.

Contact Myrna Jenson for out-of-town media requests: 907-350-6260

First day of strike: Friday, Jan. 10, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. PST

Media availabilities will be at picket lines at the following facilities:

Providence St. Vincent, Providence Portland, Providence Milwaukie, Providence Medford, Providence Hood River and Providence Seaside.

If you can't come in person, we can arrange separate phone or video conferencing. Contact Peter Starzynski at 503-960-7989 or Janet Bass at 301-502-5222.

The nearly 5,000 frontline caregivers include doctors, nurses, physician associates, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners at eight hospitals and six clinics-including Providence Portland Medical Center, Providence Seaside Hospital, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, Providence Women's Clinic, Providence Milwaukie Hospital, Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center, Providence Medford Medical Center, Providence Newberg Medical Center and Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital-along with physicians and advanced practice providers at Providence St. Vincent, who are represented by the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association, which is serviced by ONA.

In two patient surveys completed this fall, more than 90 percent of patients who responded reported having a negative experience at a Providence facility in the last three years, and 92 percent said they would support striking nurses and other healthcare providers.

"Providence refuses to make essential investments in patient care in communities across Oregon, allowing our hospitals and clinics to be dangerously understaffed, harming patients and burning out frontline caregivers," said Dr. Gabe Hyder, Providence St. Vincent. "Nurses, midwives, physicians and others need the time to properly take care of patients and need competitive wages so we can attract and retain the best employees." He noted that the hospital system is not adhering to the state's safe staffing law.

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.