Nurses at Providence Medford Host Rally Amid Continued Contract Dispute

Medford, Oregon- After nearly a year of negotiations, nurses at Providence Medford Medical Center are still working without a contract, prompting them to organize a rally earlier today to emphasize their concerns and seek community support. The rally comes ahead of another mediation session scheduled for Tuesday, November 19.

Nurses at Providence Medford, represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), are advocating for improved staffing levels and competitive pay and benefits. These measures, they argue, are critical for recruiting and retaining skilled nurses to ensure consistent patient care.

According to ONA, Providence Medford Medical Center has lost about a dozen nurses to other jobs in the past month alone, raising concerns about sustainability and potential impacts on patient outcomes.

Nurses are standing together to raise standards not only for themselves but for the patients and communities they serve, remarked ONA representatives.

Since contract negotiations began in January 2024, progress has been made on less contentious topics. However, nurses have expressed frustration with Providence’s responses to key issues such as safe staffing and competitive compensation.

This local dispute is part of a larger movement across the Providence Health System. ONA represents nearly 5,000 frontline nurses at nine Providence facilities in Oregon. Nurses at several other Providence locations—including St. Vincent, Newberg, and Milwaukie—have already authorized strikes, while others, such as Hood River and Portland, are in the process of voting.

The rally was aimed to demonstrate the unity of the nursing staff and call attention to the urgency of resolving the contract dispute. Nurses are urging Providence executives to commit to agreements that address recruitment and retention challenges.

“The turnover at Providence Medford is high and if a competitive offer is not supplied nurses will continue to leave the facility for hospitals with better pay and benefits” said one nurse representative.