Providence Prepares for Strike, Nears Full Recruitment of Temporary Staff

Editors Note: Medford Alert has never taken any advertising funds or any other forms of payment from the Oregon Nurses Association or Providence Health System. We have always tried to keep the highest integrity in our reporting and we strongly believe that monetizing either side would be counterproductive in our mission to provide transparency and neutrality in our reporting.

Medford, Oregon- Providence facilities in Oregon have announced progress in securing temporary replacement nurses ahead of a planned strike by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA). According to Providence representatives, commitments have been secured for nearly all staffing needs, with additional nurses continuing to join.

Providence remarks that recruiting and orienting these temporary staff members is a primary reason its bargaining teams have not recently returned to negotiations with union leaders.

While temporary nurse recruitment efforts are proving effective, Providence acknowledged that there is no equivalent workforce available to replace physicians. In light of this, Providence Oregon says they are working with federal mediators to potentially reopen talks with hospitalists at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and physicians and providers at its Women’s Clinic in Portland.

Providence also clarified that physicians in Medford (PMMC) are not participating in the union-led strike. At this time, the strike will comprise mainly of union nurses at PMMC.

Providence and the ONA have yet to indicate when negotiations may resume. Here is the latest from the Oregon Nurses Association regarding the potential strike.

The ONA has released the following statement regarding Providence’s hiring of temporary staff along with the ongoing bargaining disagreements:

In multiple statements earlier this week, Providence claimed they couldn’t bargain because of the overwhelming burden of having to “recruit and orient” temporary workers.

Now, under significant public pressure – including from elected officials and the Oregon Nurses Association’s (ONA) public campaign – they suddenly announce to the press they are ready to meet only with the caregivers of their choosing.

It is important to note that this shift comes conveniently after ONA called on elected officials to intervene and filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB over Providence’s illegal refusal to bargain.

Are they too busy to negotiate? Are they not? They aren’t too busy to negotiate with the workers they can’t replace, but they are too busy to negotiate with the workers they claim they can?

Inconsistent. Disingenuous. Contradictory.

Providence has ignored workers’ calls to negotiate for months – in some cases more than 15 months – even as other hospitals in Oregon and across the country have reached agreements with their healthcare workers to prevent strikes.

If Providence truly cared about the community or their workers, they would return to the mediation process they walked away from last week or agree to the requests to bargain we sent them directly from all our chief negotiators at each of our tables.

Caregivers won’t be divided by these calculated moves, and no one should believe Providence’s shifting excuses.

At this time, the historic strike of 5,000 Oregon healthcare workers is scheduled to begin on January 10, 2025. Both sides continue to ramp up their attacks on each other as the date gets closer. Medford alert will continue to provide updates as Oregon braces for a potential major shift in its healthcare services on January 10th.