After more than a year of failed negotiations, starting January 10, nearly 5,000 frontline caregivers from eight Providence hospitals and six clinics in Oregon went on indefinite strike against Providence Health & Services in their demand for adequate staffing, “employee healthcare, and competitive wages and benefits to be able to recruit and retain more caregivers.”
"Nearly 5,000 physicians, nurses, physician associates, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners (among others) are on strike to demand Providence Health & Services put patients before profits," the Oregon Nurses Association wrote in a Facebook post.
Striking nurses from Oregon Nurses Association form a picket line against Providence Health & Services, in Portland, Oregon, U.S. January 10, 2025. (Credit for all photos: Reuters)
The preservation of “vital services” by “avoiding sales to for-profit private equity firms that harm patient outcomes" is one of the issues raised by the Oregon Nurses Association.
'Santa's naughty list: Providence execs,' reads sign held by a man in a Santa Claus costume.
The healthcare workers on strike have asked Providence to “discontinue its violations of federal law, end divisive tactics, and come to the table with real proposals that address all caregivers’ and patients’ needs.”
'When healthcare workers are asked to do more with less, patient lives are at stake. Providence has pushed nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals to work under unsafe staffing conditions,' Oregon Nurses Association declared on their website.
Jennifer Lincoln, M. D., an obstetrician-gynecologist at the picket line.
'The hard-working nurses, doctors & staff on strike today at Providence deserve a workplace that treats them like the health care heroes they are. That means fair wages, benefits & adequate staffing — things equally important to the patients they serve,' US senator from Oregon Ron Wyden wrote on X to show solidarity.
“We take our responsibility to maintain hospital operations seriously," Providence said in their reply. “Each time we've had a strike, we've needed all 10 days to prepare our hospitals to care for the community from the moment our nurses walk out. And this time it's even more complex, because the strike is larger and there is no replacement workforce for physicians.”
"The pathway to ending a strike lies in their hands, and we implore them to open their eyes and realize that our patients and communities deserve better," the ONA has replied.