Thousands of Providence Health Workers Strike in Oregon

Nearly 5,000 healthcare workers from Providence Health began a strike Friday morning, picketing all eight Providence hospitals in Oregon, after months of contract negotiations between the health system and the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) union, which is representing the workers.

The strike is believed to be the largest involving healthcare workers, and the first involving physicians, in the state’s history, according to the ONA.

The sprawling group — including mostly nurses, but also physicians, nurse practitioners, physician associates, and nurse midwives — is “resolved” in its “demands for fair contracts that will invest more in patient safety, follow the [state’s] safe staffing law, decrease physician caseload, and offer regionally competitive wages and benefits to be able to recruit and retain more staff,” the union said.

In a phone interview with MedPage Today while out on the strike line, Jennifer Lincoln, MD, an ob/gyn at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, noted that “the support out here has been amazing.”

“It’s not just nurses and doctors … it’s community members,” she said. “We know that the community has our back because we have their back.”

Lincoln pointed to safe staffing and physician input into how they do their jobs — all aimed at quality patient care — as priorities.

“We’re not asking to make millions,” she added, but rather similar wages to other providers in the same area, which is essential for attracting and retaining workers.

“It’s just asking to be treated with the respect that we deserve,” she said, and being able to “continue to have amazing healthcare providers.”

Lincoln also addressed the significance of physicians striking for the first time in Oregon’s history, noting that “we have to uphold our oath of taking care of our patients, and first doing no harm.”

At the same time, she acknowledged that she and her colleagues were “hopeful that we wouldn’t get here,” noting that they never left the bargaining table with Providence. (Providence St. Vincent hospitalists won their election to unionize with the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association in August 2023 and have been bargaining since January 2024, according to the ONA.)

Indeed, as of Thursday afternoon, the ONA and several of the striking healthcare professionals said during a press conference that there was still time to avert a Friday morning strike. Ultimately, that did not occur, with doctors and nurses still seeking what they say are necessary measures in their bargaining efforts with Providence.

Strike lines will be maintained at the eight Providence locations from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, the ONA said.

“We’ll be out here as long as it takes,” Lincoln said.

Thousands of healthcare workers remained on the strike line Friday afternoon.

“Doctors, nurses, all of us united at this scale is unprecedented,” Lincoln said. “It’s us taking our power back so that we can do what’s best for the patients. Our voices matter.”

As the strike continues, the ONA issued a note to patients on behalf on their healthcare providers: “If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care. Patients who need hospital or clinical care immediately should go to receive care.”

“We would prefer to provide your care ourselves, but Providence executives’ refusal to continue meeting with caregivers has forced us onto the picket line to advocate for you, our communities, and our colleagues,” the statement continued. “Going into a hospital or clinic to get the care you need is not crossing our strike line. We invite you to come join us on the strike line after you’ve received the care you need.”

Ben LeBlanc, MD, chief executive officer at Providence Medical Group Oregon, told MedPage Today that operations were running smoothly Friday morning. “Nearly 2,000 temporary replacement nurses received intensive Providence orientation over the last several days and they have started their shifts in the hospitals, helping our patients.”

“Obviously, a strike is not good for anyone — not our caregivers, not our community,” he added. “We want this situation resolved. We want to reach fair agreements, finalize these contracts, and we want our nurses and doctors off the picket line and back inside our hospitals and clinics to care for this community.”