Health care workers at 14 Providence facilities to strike Jan. 10

PORTLAND, Ore. — Nearly 5,000 doctors and other health care workers at 14 Providence Health facilities around Oregon are scheduled to strike at 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.

On Monday, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) — the union representing the workers — gave a 10-day notice to Providence Health and Services management about the intent to go on strike. It will be the first doctors strike in Oregon’s history and the largest nurses and health care workers strike, according to ONA.

The union claims Providence allows hospitals and clinics to be understaffed, fails to follow the state’s safe staffing law, and does not pay competitive wages and benefits.

“Just last night I had someone say, ‘I came in here with back pain and I’ve been sitting here in the waiting room in a chair for six hours before I got seen,’” said Dr. Jahnavi Chandrashekar, an ER physician at Providence St. Vincent.

“A lot of times we have to take care of them in the waiting room or in the hallways of our Emergency Room. It’s so backed up,” echoed Kelly Peeler, an ER nurse at Providence Portland. “It’s not something I’d want for myself, not something I’d want for my family and it’s definitely not something I want to continue to be in the situation to take care of patients that way.”

In a written statement, Providence said it has made competitive offers for each hospital bargaining union, including double-digit pay increases for hospital nurses representing over $12,000 a year for a typical nurse.

“You don’t get to a big agreement without having a lot of small agreements,” said Raymond Moreno, chief medical officer for Providence.

The group set to strike includes doctors, nurses, physician associates, nurse midwives and nurse practitioners. The health care workers are from eight hospitals and six clinics, including the following:

• 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
• Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital

Providence said in its written response that it has replacement workers and has “identified other strategies to help us care for our patients” during the strike. Providence also said unionized health care workers who don’t want to strike and want to work can still do so.

During the 10 days leading up to the strike, Providence said that all bargaining is on hold. The Oregon Nurses Association said that the pause in negotiations was disheartening.

“We are taking a strike notice as people at their word saying they’re going to do something,” Moreno said. “It would be irresponsible of us not to focus on how we would take care of patients during that eventuality.”