Providence says operations are smooth despite 5,000 striking at its hospitals, women’s clinics

Nurses at Providence Hood River brave the rain and cold temperatures on the picket line. They were among nearly 5,000 nurses, physicians, midwives and nurse practitioners at Providence who started an open-ended strike on Friday. Courtesy of the Oregon Nurses Association
January 12, 2025

By Mike McInally for Oregon Capital Chronicle

Nearly 5,000 Providence Health & Systems nurses and other professionals walked off their jobs Friday in the largest strike by health workers in state history — and the first involving unionized doctors.

Picket lines formed in the early-morning hours outside Providence’s eight Oregon hospitals, while replacement workers started their shifts. Providence officials said they had completed the transition to the replacement workers by 6:35 a.m. Friday — 35 minutes after the 6 a.m. strike deadline. All Providence hospitals were open but the company has dialed back care, especially at St. Vincent Medical Center in southwest Portland, where Providence has stopped admitting patients from other facilities. 

Nevertheless, Dr. Ben LeBlanc, Providence Oregon’s chief executive, said St. Vincent was “operating smoothly.”

About 70 doctors who work at the hospital were on strike along with 80 doctors, clinic nurses, midwives and nurse practitioners at Providence’s six women’s health clinics in the Portland area. The company has consolidated care at its women’s clinics in Gresham and Beaverton.

The women’s clinics and St. Vincent are the only sites where doctors are striking, and not all union-represented nurses walked off the job, said Gary Walker, spokesman for Providence. He said 600 showed up for work on Friday.

Politicians blast Providence

Top Democratic politicians in Oregon weighed in on the strike, with Gov. Tina Kotek calling Providence’s policy to stop negotiations when it receives a strike notice “short sighted and unhelpful.”

“Providence wasted 10 days when they could have been at the table making progress towards a comprehensive resolution of their labor dispute,” she said.

She urged the parties to “return to the table immediately to resolve their disagreements so normal operations and care can resume.”

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden also commented.

“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,” he said in a tweet.

Other Democratic politicians — U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Andrea Salinas and state Reps Rob Nosse and Travis Nelson, a nurse — announced plans for a Saturday rally at the Portland Convention Center in support of the union. The event was scheduled to include speeches from national labor leaders such as Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Liz Shuler, the national president of the AFL-CIO.

Providence officials said they stopped negotiations when the Oregon Nurses Association issued its strike notice on Dec. 30 to line up replacement workers.

“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,” officials said in a statement.

“Providence is preparing to continue bargaining,” the statement added. “First, we have to prioritize the stability of clinical operations.”

In a video released Friday, Anne Tan Piazza, the executive director of the union, said “the strike could end today, if Providence makes the right choice to invest in its caregivers in the ways that our members have been demanding.” 

Normally, the union stages limited strikes but this action is open-ended and will continue until the two parties agree, the union said.

“Providence has rejected proposals to meet safe staffing standards, ignored requests for competitive wages and failed to address caregivers’ retention or burnout. This strike is on Providence, and I’m sorry if that makes Providence executives feel bad, but it is the truth,” she said.

At a Thursday press conference, union officials said Providence wages were not competitive with other health care entities in the area. They also have said they seek contract language that takes into account “acuity” — the level of intensive care that each patient requires.

They have accused Providence of trying to circumvent the state’s safe-staffing law, which is intended to establish safe nurse-to-patient ratios. In a Friday statement, Providence said the charge was “completely false.”

Providence officials say they have offered a 20% raise over the next three years for acute-care registered nurses, excluding overtime, holiday pay or other incentives. A contract offer for physicians proposes compensation increases and incentives that could exceed $20,000 to $30,000 a year, Providence said. 

In addition to Portland’s St. Vincent and the women’s clinics in the Portland area, the health system operates the Providence Portland Medical Center and hospitals in Hood River, Medford, Milwaukie, Newberg, Seaside and Oregon City.

Mike McInally is a longtime reporter and editor who’s worked at the Corvallis Gazette-Times, the Albany Democrat-Herald and the Missoulian, in Missoula, Montana.

Related story: ‘Standing up for ourselves’: Providence Medford nurses join historic statewide strike (Jan. 10, 2025)

Picture of Bert Etling

Bert Etling

Bert Etling is the executive editor of Ashland.news. Email him at [email protected].

Related Posts...

‘Do No Harm, Be a Good Neighbor’: Community event on immigration Monday

The Ashland Sunrise Project is hosting an opportunity for community members to learn about current immigration issues and how to be in solidarity with those potentially impacted by the changing political climate on immigration. The event, titled “How To Do No Harm and Be a Good Neighbor,” is set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF), 87 4th St., Ashland.

Read More »

Bill Thorndike Jr. remembered as community titan, treasured friend

Family, community members and longtime friends of Medford native Bill Thorndike Jr. were collectively at a loss for words over the weekend at the sudden loss of a man they say had a hand in nearly anything good to happen in Southern Oregon for much of the past half-century. Thorndike, 71, suffered a heart attack early Saturday morning, just following a Valentine’s Day spent with his wife, Angela Thorndike, at a family cabin on Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound.

Read More »

Presidents Day protest draws crowd to Ashland Plaza 

About 150 people rallied on Ashland Plaza on Monday, part of a series of nationwide protests on Presidents Day, most organized by the 50501 Movement, which stands for “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement,” in a response to what organizers describe as “the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.”

Read More »

Our Sponsors

Klamath Bird Observatory Experience the wonders of Souteast Brazil Ashland Oregon
Conscious Design Build Ashland Oregon
Pronto Printing Ashland Medford Southern Oregon

Latest posts

‘Do No Harm, Be a Good Neighbor’: Community event on immigration Monday

The Ashland Sunrise Project is hosting an opportunity for community members to learn about current immigration issues and how to be in solidarity with those potentially impacted by the changing political climate on immigration. The event, titled “How To Do No Harm and Be a Good Neighbor,” is set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF), 87 4th St., Ashland.

Read More >

Obituary: Eliane Viner

Obituary: Eliane A. Mueller Trapp Viner, 86, died on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024 — on her own terms and surrounded by loved ones — in Medford, Oregon, after three months of hospice care. A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 1, in Ashland, Oregon, and online.

Read More >

Bill Thorndike Jr. remembered as community titan, treasured friend

Family, community members and longtime friends of Medford native Bill Thorndike Jr. were collectively at a loss for words over the weekend at the sudden loss of a man they say had a hand in nearly anything good to happen in Southern Oregon for much of the past half-century. Thorndike, 71, suffered a heart attack early Saturday morning, just following a Valentine’s Day spent with his wife, Angela Thorndike, at a family cabin on Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound.

Read More >

Presidents Day protest draws crowd to Ashland Plaza 

About 150 people rallied on Ashland Plaza on Monday, part of a series of nationwide protests on Presidents Day, most organized by the 50501 Movement, which stands for “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement,” in a response to what organizers describe as “the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.”

Read More >

New nonprofit hopes to help write next chapter in Ashland’s story

It’s in the name: Cultural and economic revitalization of Ashland is at the heart of a three-year program proposed by a new nonprofit organization — the Ashland Cultural & Economic Alliance. Co-founders Matt Hoffman, Jim Fredericks and Lloyd Matthew Haines hosted a launch event attended by about 70 business, cultural and civic leaders Saturday evening in Meese Hall at Southern Oregon University to announce the formation of ACEA.

Read More >

Our Sponsors

City of Ashland Public Notice Ashland Oregon
Ashland Parks and Recreation Ashland Oregon
Ashland.news House Ad

Explore More...

The Ashland Sunrise Project is hosting an opportunity for community members to learn about current immigration issues and how to be in solidarity with those potentially impacted by the changing political climate on immigration. The event, titled “How To Do No Harm and Be a Good Neighbor,” is set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF), 87 4th St., Ashland.
Two weeks after its first February meeting was canceled due to unsafe road conditions due to snow, the Ashland City Council takes up business Tuesday, Feb. 17, it had expected to handle on Feb. 4. Its Feb. 3 study session, however, which was also canceled, is still pending as Monday, Feb. 17, was Presidents Day.
Family, community members and longtime friends of Medford native Bill Thorndike Jr. were collectively at a loss for words over the weekend at the sudden loss of a man they say had a hand in nearly anything good to happen in Southern Oregon for much of the past half-century. Thorndike, 71, suffered a heart attack early Saturday morning, just following a Valentine’s Day spent with his wife, Angela Thorndike, at a family cabin on Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound.
About 150 people rallied on Ashland Plaza on Monday, part of a series of nationwide protests on Presidents Day, most organized by the 50501 Movement, which stands for "50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement," in a response to what organizers describe as "the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration."
It’s in the name: Cultural and economic revitalization of Ashland is at the heart of a three-year program proposed by a new nonprofit organization — the Ashland Cultural & Economic Alliance. Co-founders Matt Hoffman, Jim Fredericks and Lloyd Matthew Haines hosted a launch event attended by about 70 business, cultural and civic leaders Saturday evening in Meese Hall at Southern Oregon University to announce the formation of ACEA.
ashland.news logo

Subscribe to the newsletter and get local news sent directly to your inbox.

(It’s free)

Don't Miss Our Top Stories

Get our newsletter delivered to your inbox three times a week.
It’s FREE and you can cancel anytime.