Oregon Nurses Association Statement on Providence Oregon Layoffs

(Portland, Ore.) - Today, Providence has once again proved it cares more about its own bottom line than patients by cutting much-needed care providers in the Home Health & Hospice unit. This is the fourth time this year the health system has laid off caregivers in the unit.  

Providence has become a $30 billion corporation that pays their own top executives 7 and 8-figure salaries.  In recent years, nurses, doctors, providers, and healthcare professionals have been standing up to these executives and demanding they prioritize patients and employees before their profits. This latest round of layoffs is just another example that Providence continues to listen to the almighty dollar instead of employees and the end result will inevitably be a deterioration of patient care for Oregonians.

Providence released plans to close the Home Health Augmentative and Alternative Communication-Speech Language Pathology program which has three employees and is asking for voluntary reductions of two social workers and up to five RNs in its Hospice program, as well as mandatory reductions of several Hospice RN positions. In February Providence eliminated 11 nursing positions and closed the Home Health Palliative Care program. In July it eliminated the Remote Monitoring program which had two positions. Through all of these closures, there has been no decrease in management.

As Oregon’s population ages and hospital executives limit the amount of time people can spend in a hospital, patients must navigate a new normal at home. For years Home Health & Hospice RNs, social workers, speech language pathologists and others have served the Portland metro area. They’ve had the challenging tasks of helping people relearn skills they’ve lost, navigating an ever-confusing network of care, and comforting families and patients in the final stages of life. They work tirelessly for Oregonians. Now there will be fewer caregivers and those that remain will see increased workloads.  

Unfortunately, this type of bad behavior has become commonplace in Providence, and it demonstrates it does not care about its community. 

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) represents a diverse community of 20,000 nurses, and health care professionals throughout Oregon. Together, we use our collective power to advocate for critical issues impacting patients, nurses, and healthcare professionals including a more effective, affordable and accessible healthcare system; better working conditions for all healthcare professionals; and healthier communities. For more information visit www.OregonRN.org.

###