Gov. Tina Kotek is urging all parties to continue bargaining
Obstetric hospitalists Darleen Dodson, MD, left, and Jennifer Lincoln, MD, center, stand on the picket line outside of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Hundreds of striking workers line the road outside of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Strikers at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center on Friday morning. The strike, which impacts all eight Providence hospitals in the state as well as six women’s clinics, includes nearly 5,000 nurses and 150 physicians and advanced practitioners.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Hundreds of striking workers line the road outside of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025. Thousands of workers walked off the job on Friday at all eight Providence hospitals in the state as well as six women’s clinics, including nurses, physicians and advanced practitioners.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Becca Winters, an RN in medical ICU stands on the picket line outside of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Hundreds of striking workers line the road outside of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Jennifer Lincoln, MD, an obstetric hospitalist, right, stays dry under her head-mounted umbrella while striking at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025. Thousands of workers at Providence Oregon walked off the job Friday morning.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Shekhar Ojha, MD, an internal medicine physician at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center for 10 years, stands on the picket line outside the facility in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025. He says the high rate of turnover places a burden on people who choose to stay. “If you cannot safely practice medicine, it is not a good practice at all.” Thousands of workers walked off the job on Friday at all eight Providence hospitals in the state as well as six women’s clinics, including nurses, physicians and advanced practitioners.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Nurse Jennifer Jadama, RN, stands on the picket line outside of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025. Thousands of workers walked off the job on Friday at all eight Providence hospitals in the state as well as six women’s clinics, including nurses, physicians and advanced practitioners.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Picket signs line fencing outside of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, in Portland, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025. Thousands of workers walked off the job on Friday at all eight Providence hospitals in the state as well as six women’s clinics, including nurses, physicians and advanced practitioners.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
People wave to honking cars on the strike line outside Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, Jan. 10, 2025. Nurse and bargaining unit chair Brittany Foss noted, "we have a really supportive community here."
Anna Lueck for OPB / OPB
People on the picket line outside Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital on the first day of a statewide strike, Jan. 10, 2025. Nurses at all eight Providence locations went on strike Friday, citing concerns about pay, health insurance, and staffing shortages.
Anna Lueck for OPB / OPB
Sorrel Karaba, center, cheers and raises her sign while on the strike line at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, Jan. 10, 2025. Karaba is a nurse at OHSU and came to support her fellow nurses, saying, "they supported us when we were bargaining."
Anna Lueck for OPB / OPB
Carol Adams, a registered nurse at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, stands on the strike line outside the hospital on Jan. 10, 2025, Hood River, Ore. Adams, who has worked as a nurse for over two decades, says that while she is nearing the end of her career, she wants to make sure the job is sustainable for younger nurses.
Anna Lueck for OPB / OPB
Providence nurse and bargaining unit chair Brittany Foss, right, on the strike line outside Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital on the first day of a statewide strike, Jan. 10, 2025. Foss says the bargaining process has been "disappointing. We made a lot of effort and tried creative solutions, but Providence won't budge."
Anna Lueck for OPB / OPB
Paula Chakowski, who has worked as an emergency room nurse at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital for a decade, waves to passing cars while on the strike line, Hood River, Ore., Jan. 10, 2025. Chakowski says "this is the last place I'd like to be," but noted concerns about retroactive pay and staffing shortages as reasons she was driven to strike.
Anna Lueck for OPB / OPB
Nurses hold signs on the strike line outside Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital on the first day of a statewide strike, Jan. 10, 2025. RN Lori Warneking, in center, says having to be on strike "is sad to me. I want to do what I love, taking care of people." RN Janet Alvarado, right, says, "it feels good to be part of a movement."
Anna Lueck for OPB / OPB
Thousands of workers at Providence Oregon walked off the job Friday morning. The strike, which impacts all eight Providence hospitals in the state as well as six women’s clinics, includes nearly 5,000 nurses and close to 150 physicians and advanced practitioners.
Providence said in a press conference Friday that about 10% of unionized physicians had chosen to work, along with more than a hundred union-represented nurses.
The Oregon Nurses Association announced on Dec. 30 they would walk out Jan. 10 if a deal could not be reached. The two sides have been in bargaining for more than a year and had been working with federal mediators.
It is the first time in recent state history that doctors have gone on strike.
“We’re people who pride ourselves on overcoming great adversity to show up and take care of patients,” said Dr. Charlie Saltalamacchia, who works at the Providence Women’s Clinic, on the picket line Friday. “So for doctors to be leaving work and telling our patients to seek care elsewhere, so that we can demonstrate how drastically desperate we are in this moment with our negotiations with Providence, I think it speaks volumes to how difficult the working conditions have become.”
Some on strike Friday also cited concerns about job security.
“We need to protect our jobs from being outsourced,” said Dr. Darlene Dodson, an obstetric hospitalist at St. Vincent Medical Center. “We’ve seen them replace other departments without any provocation other than monetary ones ... we’re a fairly small department and I feel that Providence could replace us.”
The Oregon Nurses Association has accused Providence of stonewalling on core priorities like staffing and out of pocket health care costs, and violating labor law by refusing to bargain with nurses after it received their 10-day strike notice, while asking to continue bargaining with doctors.
Providence said it has offered generous pay increases and improved benefits, and has accused the Oregon Nurses Association of delay tactics and letting contracts expire “with the intent of forcing strikes.”
“Providence has provided quality care to Oregonians for more than 150 years. Our commitment to taking care of our patients, caregivers and communities will not waver,” a spokesman said.
Gov. Tina Kotek said she is in contact with both ONA leadership and the Providence CEO. “I have urged both parties to stay at the bargaining table – that means all hospital staff, not just physicians,” Kotek said.
The strike, which began at 6 a.m. Friday, has no set end date. Providence has reportedly told its nurses that anyone who wishes to work during the strike must report for work on the first day, a policy that might run afoul of labor law. Providence has hired replacement workers for two weeks.
While Providence officials have said they’ve been able to hire 2,000 replacement workers for striking nurses, it has been less successful replacing physicians and advanced practitioners who walked out at St. Vincent Medical Center and several women’s clinics.
Providence has said the hospital will be operating with reduced capacity during the strike.
This story will be updated.
Correction: the original version of this story misstated the number of clinics involved in the strike. Staff at six women’s clinics are participating in the walkout. OPB regrets the error.
