Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford temporarily shut down its intermediate care unit twice in December, ONA says; Asante rep calls it ‘unfounded and inaccurate accusations’

By James Sloan, Rogue Valley Times

The Oregon Nurses Association claims that Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center’s new staffing policy is leaving hospital units short-staffed, putting patients at risk and breaking Oregon law.  

ONA says nurses are being required to sign away their rights to overtime or incentive pay when taking extra shifts to cover staffing shortages.   

According to ONA, the staffing shortages caused the hospital to shut down its intermediate care unit — the hospital department for patients with medical needs one step below the intensive care unit — on two separate occasions in December. The union further claims that the emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit were short-staffed by significant numbers over the holiday season.

“Oregon staffing law through the Oregon Health Authority requires every unit in a hospital to have designated staffing ratios to make sure it’s safe; that means a certain amount of nurses per patient and they’re violating that law as well,” Misha Hernandez, a labor representative with ONA, told the Rogue Valley Times in an interview.   

Asante’s contract with nurses represented by ONA — signed and agreed upon by both parties in November 2023 — outlines overtime and incentive compensation for those who volunteer for extra shifts and to fill staffing shortages. The hospital, however, is requiring nurses to sign a waiver giving up their legal and contractual rights to overtime and incentive pay, further straining the shortage, according to ONA.   

“We have filed a grievance listing all of the violations, and they’ve refused to hear it and have become obstructive with the union,” Hernandez told the Times, noting that the grievance calls upon Asante to drop all practices and policies that create barriers to safe patient care and violate nurse staffing laws. 

Desirae Myers, Asante manager of communications and marketing, when asked for comment regarding ONA’s list of claims, told the Times, “We do not respond to unfounded and inaccurate accusations.” 

Considering Asante’s role as the only high-level critical care facility in the region, the staffing shortage affects not only residents in Southern Oregon but patients as far as the Oregon Coast and parts of Northern California, according to ONA.   

“(Asante) gets diversions from all over the state; it’s pretty devastating to have a manufactured staffing crisis only because they don’t want to pay incentive pay,” Hernandez said. “It’s basically profits over patients.” 

ONA, established in 1904, says the union serves as a union representing and serving as a bargaining agent for more than 24,000 nurses and healthcare professionals across Oregon.   

Local emergency room nurses are currently circulating a petition to Asante leadership highlighting their concerns about alleged unsafe staffing in the ER and the effects of making workers forfeit their rights to agreed-upon pay.   

A portion of the petition, according to a copy provided by ONA, states: “We are deeply concerned that staffing vacancies are being intentionally left open despite qualified staff offering to cover, despite our patient volumes being as high as they’ve ever been. We are also concerned that Asante is choosing not to hire nurses and emergency technicians for positions that are open because of turnover, creating shadow vacancies that result in more open shifts.”  

The Oregon Health Authority has investigated Asante in the past for staffing violations, finding 125 staffing law violations since June 5, ONA said in a news release this week. The state health authority has proposed fining Asante more than $34,000 for staffing law violations that occurred in June alone, according to ONA. 

Asante has recently encountered controversy after announcing in December that it would be closing Asante Ashland Community Hospital’s birthing center and halting inpatient admissions in spring 2026. Ashland’s emergency room and lab services would remain open as a satellite to Rogue Regional Medical Center.  

Asante also is named in dozens of civil lawsuits related to former RN Dani Marie Schofield, who faces 44 counts of second-degree assault in a criminal case for allegedly swapping tap water in place of high-powered fentanyl, leading to patient harm and multiple deaths. Schofield was arrested in June 2024 but posted $400,000 bail and remains free on bond.   

The civil cases are being delayed until her criminal trial — which has been delayed multiple times — can proceed. A 12-person jury trial is set for Sept. 14, 2026, barring further delays.   

Asante is the largest health care provider in nine counties from Southern Oregon to Northern California, providing medical care to approximately 600,000 people, according to the health care system.

Reach reporter James Sloan at james.sloan@rv-times.com. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times

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