Ahead of a planned strike by the Oregon Nurses Association, Providence said it has warned state officials that the work stoppage will put healthcare access at "significant risk." Beginning Jan. 6, the health system is capping the number of patients at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland.
Renton, Wash.-based Providence received a strike notice on Dec. 30 from the ONA, which represents nearly 5,000 workers across eight hospitals and six clinics, including physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners. The union has called for an open-ended strike starting Jan. 10 involving 11 Providence bargaining units.
To prepare for the strike, Providence is recruiting temporary replacement nurses. However, "there is no replacement workforce for physicians, such as the one that exists for nurses," Jennifer Burrows, RN, chief executive for Providence Oregon, said in a Jan. 6 statement shared with Becker's.
The union's front-line caregivers work at Providence Portland, Seaside, St. Vincent, Providence Women's Clinic, Milwaukie, Willamette Falls, Medford, Newberg and Hood River. Additionally, physicians and advanced practice providers at St. Vincent are represented by the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers Healthcare and staffed by the ONA.
Providence anticipates that 60 to 70 physicians at St. Vincent will participate in the strike.
"Recognizing the public health need for physicians during the current flu surge in the community, Providence has asked union leaders to continue bargaining in units that include physicians. The union initially refused, saying it would only accept an all-or-nothing approach that includes all facility bargaining units taking part in the strike," the health system's statement said. "It is Providence's hope that the union's initial position changes."
Providence has also notified the Oregon Health Authority that it will need to cap patient admissions at St. Vincent starting Jan. 6.
As of that date, St. Vincent had more than 450 patients, with 320 under the care of hospitalists. Providence said it expects that by Jan. 10, the available physicians will be able to manage only 250 to 275 hospitalist patients. "As [St. Vincent] looks to close that gap, it will begin limiting admissions," Providence said.
Raymond Moreno, MD, chief medical officer at St. Vincent, added that the hospital will defer or reschedule procedures requiring hospitalist support as needed and expects longer delays in the emergency department and increased ambulance diversion.
The ONA refuted Providence's claim of an "all-or-nothing" approach, calling it "categorically false."
"ONA has been fully engaged in the bargaining process, providing counterproposals on the rare occasion that Providence brings meaningful offers to the table," the union said in a Jan. 6 news release.
The union also rejected Providence's characterization of the strike as a "significant risk" to community health, calling it "a dangerous distortion of the facts."
"The real threat to communities across Oregon is Providence's chronic understaffing and failure to prioritize investments in front-line caregivers," the ONA said. "These systemic issues, not this strike, are the root cause of reduced access to care for Oregonians."