Nurses at St. Charles Health System in Bend are taking the first steps toward a potential strike, as union leaders launched a strike authorization vote Tuesday morning.
The vote will last until May 21, after which the union will release the results. Should a majority of members vote yes, the nurses will be authorized to go on strike. The union will have to provide a 10-day notice before any strike goes into effect.
Nearly 1,000 nurses make up the bargaining unit, which is managed by the Oregon Nurses Association.
FILE - The outside of the St. Charles Health System campus in Bend, Ore., is pictured on July 26, 2022.
Joni Land / OPB
The union and hospital executives have been negotiating a new contract for the past five months, the union said in a written statement Tuesday. The union said it is seeking solutions to widespread staffing problems that are leading to overworked nurses.
The strike vote comes amid increased tension between the union and the hospital, which is also Central Oregon’s largest employer. Nurses from the union recently filed several complaints with the Oregon Health Authority, arguing the hospital violated its own staffing requirements.
Erin Harrington, an ICU nurse and chair for the union’s bargaining unit, said staff shortages are forcing many to pick up extra shifts and it’s impacting worker safety. She and other nurses receive texts daily asking them to pick up extra shifts, she said.
“We are absolutely fighting for safe patient ratios in the hospital, paired with better wages that can support nurses living in this community,” Harrington said.
OHA previously found St. Charles had violated staffing requirements in 2017, 2021 and 2022.
St. Charles recently gave nurses a in pay in an effort to boost retention and reduce the number of nursing vacancies, which the union said was more than 300 as of March 24. A St. Charles spokesperson said last week they are recruiting for 84 positions.
Julie Ostrom, St. Charles’ senior nursing leader, said in a written statement that nurses recently received a $5-an-hour pay raise and that turnover among the nursing staff has decreased.
“We believe that ONA’s strike tactics, including the strike authorization vote, are inconsistent with our shared goal to recruit and retain quality nursing staff and could be detrimental to that effort,” Ostrom said.
Ostrom also said hospital leadership will aim to reach an agreement before any strike begins.
Many of the staffing issues stem from the desperate financial situation St. Charles and hospitals across the country face. The hospital recently reported a positive balance sheet in its finances, as The Bulletin reported, in stark contrast to the tens of millions of dollars lost in previous years.
In order to cut expenses, the hospital laid off more than 100 non-medical workers in 2022. St. Charles also recently announced it would reduce the number of travel nurses, who are typically more expensive than paying staff members to fill gaps, it contracts.
St. Charles briefly declared crisis standards of care — without notifying the public — last July, as the number of workers could not handle patient volume at the time.
Harrington said it’s possible a strike could impact access to care, but that staffing levels have negatively impacted care for months. She said 20 beds are closed to the public right now and that some surgeries have been canceled due to a lack of beds.
It’s not the first time St. Charles has had workers potentially strike. In 2021, the union representing technical workers at the hospital went on strike for more than week, after failing to secure a contract with the hospital. Nurses at St. Charles previously went on strike in 1980.