Thousands of Providence workers begin largest health care strike in Oregon history

The largest health care strike in Oregon history began early Friday at Providence across the state, as roughly 5,000 frontline health professionals walked off the job.

The strike – which includes mostly nurses and 150 doctors and advanced practitioners in addition to thousands of nurses – spans Providence’s eight hospitals in the state.

While Providence workers have in recent years held strikes limited to a few days, it hasn’t set an end date for this one. A strike that could last days or longer – and that includes multiple locations of one of the region’s largest health care providers – could prove enormously disruptive to Oregon’s already strained health care system.

Providence officials said they didn’t expect to resume bargaining over the weekend.

Because health workers must give advance notice of their intent to strike, Providence and the region’s other hospitals have had more than 10 days to prepare. Providence has hired 2,000 temporary nurses to keep its hospitals open during the strike.

But the physicians and advanced practitioners striking at St. Vincent Medical Center and its chain of six women’s clinics have proven harder to replace. With up to 70 hospitalists striking at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, the hospital said it has postponed surgeries and that it would need to cap new patient admissions.

Providence officials said all of its hospitals were open. Ambulances were temporarily diverted away from St. Vincent to other hospitals as the strike began, but that the diversion was temporary. St. Vincent has stopped accepting patients transferred from other facilities but is not moving patients already admitted to the hospital.

Jennifer Burrows, the chief executive of Providence Oregon, said the hospital would be staffed by physicians brought in from other Providence hospitals and other health systems. She also said about 10% of doctors represented by the striking union had reported to work Friday.

Providence has also been rescheduling appointments at its women’s clinics, where 80 physicians, nurse practitioners and nurse midwives were set to strike. It has temporarily closed four of the clinics, consolidating operations to locations at 4400 N.E. Halsey St. in Gresham and 12345 S.W. Horizon Blvd. in Beaverton.

Other hospitals included in the strike are Providence Portland, Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Providence Milwaukie, Providence Hood River, Providence Seaside, Providence Newberg and Providence Medford.

Some off-duty workers began picketing outside Providence Portland Medical Center as early as 3 a.m. Friday. Others who worked a night shift that ended at 6 a.m. went straight to the picket line as the strike officially began, they said.

There was music and a small bonfire – and, early Friday, pouring rain. Union officials handed out branded ponchos.

Providence and the Oregon Nurses Association, the union that represents the nurses and other frontline health workers, have not reached agreement on contracts spanning multiple bargaining units.

The union said patients who need medical care should not delay going to a hospital or medical clinic even during the strike. Seeking medical care is not considered crossing the picket line, the union said.

Providence said it has proposed a 20% pay raise for nurses over the next three years, excluding overtime, holiday pay and incentives. The health system said it has also offered up to $5,000 signing bonuses to sign the new contract.

But the union says that the dispute also has to do with the persistent staffing shortages that have plagued hospitals, and the broader health care system, since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The issue at hand is not just about pay,” Gina Ottinger, a registered nurse at Providence St. Vincent, said at a news conference Thursday. “It’s about staffing, employee health care, patient care and overall working conditions.”

Ottinger said Providence management has not taken into account the complexity of patient care and the growing demands to care for more patients that nurses deem safe or reasonable.

Kayleigh Roehl, a registered nurse at Providence Portland who was picketing outside the hospital early Friday, said a state medical staffing law passed in 2023 hadn’t improved working conditions – and in fact that they had deteriorated.

“Our patient ratios have actually gone up,” Roehl said. “We’re having to deal with more patients, some who are very sick and need a lot more time and attention, and when we’re stretched very thin, it can be very unsafe.”

Meanwhile, the striking doctors and advanced practitioners at Providence St. Vincent and the women’s clinics want Providence to address chronic staffing levels by limiting the number of hospital admissions when patient numbers exceed what doctors can reasonably manage.

The striking workers have drawn messages of support from labor leaders – the national heads of the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO, two of the nation’s largest labor organizations, were scheduled to speak at a rally on Saturday – and politicians including Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden and Gov. Tina Kotek.

Kotek said Providence had “wasted” 10 days by refusing to bargain in the lead-up to the strike.

“Oregonians are already experiencing disruptions to care,” Kotel said in a statement on Friday. “All parties must return to the table immediately to resolve their disagreements so normal operations and care can resume.”