Page 2
January 24, 2024
Addressing Ongoing Staffing Crisis
Nurses File
Strike Notice
to Combat
Care Delays
Local home health and hos-
pice nurses declared their intent to
strike Feb. 1 to protect community
health and safety and address the
ongoing staffing crisis at Peace-
Health Sacred Heart Home Care
Services. The two-week strike
will begin Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7
a.m. and conclude Wednesday,
Feb. 14 at 7 a.m. The more than
90 registered nurses at Peace-
Health Sacred Heart Home Care
Services overwhelmingly voted
to authorize a strike in December
following nearly a year of unsuc-
cessful contract negotiations with
PeaceHealth executives including
40 bargaining sessions.
On Jan. 19, nurses delivered
a strike notice to PeaceHealth
executives informing them of
the strike date. By providing
advance notice, nurses are help-
ing ensure current patients’ care
can be addressed during the
strike as PeaceHealth may need
to transfer patients' care to oth-
ONA nurses and supporters held an informational picket outside PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical
Center June 7 to raise community awareness about unsafe staffing at PeaceHealth hospitals. Photo
Courtesy of ONA
er home care agencies. It also
gives PeaceHealth executives
ample time to join nurses at the
bargaining table and reach a fair
agreement to prevent a strike.
Frontline nurses had planned
to meet with PeaceHealth’s ex-
ecutives and a federal mediator
Jan. 23 in a good-faith effort to
try to reach a fair contract agree-
ment and prevent a strike. Ear-
lier this afternoon, PeaceHealth
executives chose to cancel nurs-
es’ final scheduled negotiation
date.
Nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred
Heart Home Care Services are
represented by the Oregon Nurs-
es Association (ONA). “Nurs-
es are ready to do what it takes
to reach a fair agreement with
PeaceHealth,” said Jo Turner, an
ONA member and hospice nurse
at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart
Home Care Services. "All we’re
asking for is dignity, respect,
and equal pay for the essential
care we provide to vulnerable,
home-bound patients and their
families every day. Our patients
and our community suffer when
their caregivers are ignored, ex-
ploited, and underpaid by Peace-
Health’s millionaire executives.
We are ready to bargain and
ready to strike to win justice for
our coworkers, our patients and
our community."
Nearly a quarter of home care
nurses have left the agency since
PeaceHealth executives allowed
nurses’ contract to expire in April
2023. Another third of home care
nurses have said they plan to leave
this year if PeaceHealth refuses to
agree to a fair contract.
ONA nurses at PeaceHealth
Sacred Heart Home Care Ser-
vices play an essential, but often
unseen, role in their community.
They deliver hospital-quality
care to patients’ homes—pro-
viding a critical lifeline to sick
and dying individuals and their
families. They care for everyone
from newborns to centenarians,
keeping them out of expensive
hospital beds and helping them
heal after traumatic injuries or
illnesses. They also deliver expert
care, support and guidance when
Continued on Page 5