UPDATED: Jan. 10, 4:18 p.m. ...
Despite Friday鈥檚 rain, the mood was cheerful among Rogue Valley nurses joining the largest health care worker strike in Oregon鈥檚 history.
Breanna Zabel was one of those nurses in front of Providence Medford Medical Center today. Passing cars honked in support as she explained how workers felt ignored by hospital management.
鈥淲hile we do not feel supported by Providence, we do feel supported by our community. Which is who we take care of and who we treat and we鈥檙e out here for them too,鈥� said Zabel.
The walkout includes around 400 nurses from Providence Medford. The strike also includes physicians in other parts of the state. Last week, Providence officials said they wanted to re-open negotiations with those doctors.
In a press conference on Thursday, Chris Pizzi, chief executive for the Providence Southern Oregon Service Area, said the Medford hospital and its clinics will remain open while hiring outside labor. He said the hospital is offering nurses a 20% raise and a commitment to proper staffing levels.
鈥淭he proposal that we have put forward is generous, it's fair, and the economics of that, I think just as importantly, is sustainable,鈥� said Pizzi.
Kate Kitchell, chief nursing officer at Providence Medford Medical Center, who is not part of the walkout, accused the Oregon Nurses Association of favoring striking over negotiation.
鈥淚've worked in this hospital for over a decade and I have participated in contract negotiation cycles several times鈥�. This cycle has been different,鈥� said Kitchell. 鈥淭his time around we saw ONA鈥檚 early communication not around ratifying a contract here locally in Medford, but around growing power and promoting statewide strikes across Oregon.鈥�
Nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association gave Providence a legally required notice to strike after negotiating for over a year to get better wages, more benefits and a fix to chronic understaffing. The group accuses Providence of refusing to respond to its proposals.
鈥淸Providence has] made claims that some services will be disrupted and some facilities will be shuttered. But in the same breath, they've also told the press that they're fully prepared,鈥� said ONA executive director Anne Tan Piazza at a press briefing on Thursday. 鈥淭hey have made inconsistent and disingenuous claims about their preparedness, and tried to blame the issue on frontline caregivers.
Gina Ottinger, a nurse and ONA executive committee secretary, said the strike was also about patient care and overall working conditions.
鈥淣urses and other frontline caregivers are leaving. They're leaving for better wages, better benefits and better working conditions and neighboring hospital systems,鈥� said Ottinger.
In a Friday statement, Governor Tina Kotek called a Providence policy to stop negotiating after getting a strike notice 鈥渟hort sighted and unhelpful.鈥�
鈥淧rovidence wasted 10 days when they could have been at the table making progress towards a comprehensive resolution of their labor dispute,鈥� said Kotek.
Providence responded with a statement saying the hospital group stopped bargaining because it needed to put all its energy into preparing for the strike.
"We take our responsibility to maintain hospital operations seriously," the statement said. "Each time we鈥檝e had a strike, we鈥檝e needed all 10 days to prepare our hospitals to care for the community from the moment our nurses walk out. And this time it鈥檚 even more complex, because the strike is larger and there is no replacement workforce for physicians."
The open-ended strike will impact eight hospitals and six clinics. Strikers say they won鈥檛 go back to work until a deal is reached.
