Media Update: Newport Info Picket Canceled As Nurses Reach A Tentative Agreement With Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital (Photo) -08/02/24
EVENT UPDATE:
ONA nurses at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital are pleased to announce they reached a tentative contract agreement with Samaritan management late this afternoon. The tentative contract agreement includes numerous improvements to raise local healthcare standards including equal pay for equal work for nurses at Samaritan Pacific, Samaritan Albany General Hospital and Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis. Providing equal pay for equal work, along with other improvements, will give Samaritan more tools to address staffing issues on the coast; recruit and retain nurses; and ensure people across Lincoln County continue to have access to high-quality, safe, and affordable healthcare.
As a result of this tentative agreement, nurses have canceled tonight's informational picket.
Nurses expressed deep appreciation for the incredible support they've received from their coworkers at the hospital and from community members throughout Lincoln County during contract negotiations. Community support was critical to reaching a fair contract agreement that is a win for nurses, patients and our community.
Frontline nurses at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital are fighting for safe staffing, better local access to care and equal pay for equal work.
WHAT: Nurses, healthcare providers and community leaders are holding an informational picket and public rally near Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital Friday, Aug. 2 from 5 - 7 p.m.
Nurses are demanding Samaritan executives take action to address a staffing crisis that has contributed to a decline in care quality, long wait times, and overreliance on expensive, inexperienced travel nurses. Frontline nurses are calling on Samaritan management to reach a fair contract agreement that raises safety standards and ensures people throughout Lincoln County continue to have access to safe, affordable healthcare. Samaritan executives let nurses’ contract expire in June.
WHEN & WHERE:
ONA Nurses Informational Picket
Fri. August 2
5 - 7 p.m.
Near Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital
Intersection of Hwy 101 & Abbey St. Newport, OR
WHO: ONA frontline nurses from the Samaritan Health Services system and allies including local doctors, other healthcare providers, union allies and community supporters. ONA represents more than 100 registered nurses at Samaritan Pacific and more than 1,000 nurses throughout the Samaritan Health Services system—which includes multiple hospitals, clinics and health insurance plans from the Willamette Valley to the central Oregon coast.
WHY: ONA nurses are picketing for a fair contract to improve our communities’ health and safety. We’re working to solve Samaritan’s staffing crisis and win equal standards so we can recruit and retain the caregivers our community desperately needs.
Samaritan Pacific is one of the most profitable hospitals in the state, but we’re losing nurses in every direction for better paying jobs. Samaritan executives have repeatedly refused to offer local nurses equal pay for equal work; leading to a staffing exodus that is affecting local healthcare.
At Samaritan Pacific—which enjoyed double-digit profit margins for the last 4 years—staffing shortages are so severe that nearly ¼ of nurses are expensive, inexperienced, and temporary travel nurses; causing patients to pay more for lower quality care.
Right now, a travel nurse with 2 years’ experience makes $10 more an hour than a local nurse with 20 years’ experience.
Samaritan executives' continued substandard treatment of the frontline nurses at Samaritan Pacific and pay that is significantly behind other Samaritan hospitals prevents it from fully staffing its hospitals and delivering on its promises to care for its community.
Decades of research and real-life experience shows nurse staffing shortages harm community health and lead to longer wait times and hospital stays for patients and community members, more expensive care, more infections and injuries, more readmissions and more preventable deaths.
Community members are invited and encouraged to attend nurses’ informational picket to hear directly from local nurses and healthcare providers, ask questions, and share concerns and stories about their own health care experiences at the hospital. Media members are encouraged to attend to capture the voices and stories of frontline nurses and inform the community about patient care conditions at the hospital.
Friday’s event is outdoors and will be held rain-or-shine. All event participants are asked to follow guidance from designated rally officials and safety personnel.
NOTE: An informational picket is not a strike or work stoppage. It is a demonstration of solidarity to Samaritan’s executives and that local nurses are united to raise health care standards for our community.
Local nurses plan to meet with Samaritan executives on Friday before the informational picket to try again to reach a fair contract agreement that meets their community’s healthcare needs. If a tentative contract agreement is reached, event plans may change. Please check your email for additional updates.
