Legacy APPs Resoundingly Reject Tentative Agreement - 12/27/25
(Portland, Ore.) — With nearly 90 percent of eligible members voting, advanced practice providers (APPs) at Legacy Health have resoundingly rejected the tentative agreement reached on December 23. APPs rejected the agreement because of Legacy’s bad-faith bargaining, disrespect for their profession, uncompetitive wages, and bloated executive pay. The vote delivers a clear rebuke of Legacy’s offer, and the strike will continue with daily picketing.
APPs cited multiple reasons for rejecting the agreement, including:
• Legacy’s lack of meaningful movement at the bargaining table since the strike began.
• Legacy’s disrespect for advanced practice providers—frontline caregivers who deliver critical, lifesaving care to Oregonians every day.
• A contract that would leave Legacy APPs far behind peers at other health systems, driving turnover and undermining patient care.
• Legacy’s hypocrisy—publicly claiming financial hardship while continuing with lavish compensation for top executives and ignoring their frontline providers.
Legacy’s Failure to Bargain in Good Faith
Since issuing a strike notice, advanced practice providers (APPs) repeatedly offered to meet at any time and in any location to move negotiations forward. Legacy Health instead chose to delay bargaining and engage in bad-faith tactics.
Legacy management has even publicly acknowledged—nearly boasting—that the tentative agreement did not materially improve after the strike began, despite APPs returning to the table again and again with meaningful compromises.
In the same breath, Legacy claimed it “...remained committed throughout the process to reaching a mutually agreeable contract that supports advanced practice providers,...” while also admitting that “...the agreement is materially consistent with the offer presented on Nov. 20, prior to the strike being announced.” These contradictory statements cannot both be true. Rather than engaging in serious, productive negotiations, management played games at the bargaining table, dragged out the process, and issued inconsistent and misleading statements to the press—while frontline providers and patients were caught in the middle.
The question should be asked of Legacy management: if you are committed to reaching a “mutually agreeable contract that supports APPs” why have you offered a deal that has not “materially” changed since the strike began?
This misleading approach to bargaining reflects a broader failure by Legacy to take this process seriously and a troubling disregard for the impact their decisions have on patient care. This is not leadership; it is avoidance—and every Oregonian should be concerned.
Disrespect for APPs
By refusing to offer wages that are competitive with APPs at other hospitals—and in some cases paying them less than other frontline caregivers within Legacy — management has once again demonstrated its disregard for its healthcare professionals.
Advanced practice providers—including nurse practitioners, physician associates, and clinical nurse specialists—are highly trained clinicians who save lives, perform surgeries, and care for families every day. They deliver essential, lifesaving care across a wide range of settings and are critical to the health and safety of communities throughout Oregon.
Legacy’s decision to undervalue this workforce—and its indifference when experienced APPs leave for other health systems—is a slap in the face and a clear sign of blatant disrespect.
Uncompetitive Wages and APP Turnover
Legacy has made false and misleading claims to the public about raises in this contract. In reality, some APPs would see little to no increases at all over the life of the agreement, and the entire unit would continue to lag behind other healthcare systems.
The proposed agreement would have left Legacy APPs 10% behind their counterparts at OHSU, and behind what Kaiser APPs have been offered—perpetuating a widening wage and standards gap that threatens the long-term stability of Legacy’s workforce.
This disparity would inevitably drive experienced APPs out of the system, worsening patient care, increasing burnout among remaining staff, and inflating costs as Legacy is forced into a constant recruitment and retention cycle of its own making. When frontline providers are undervalued, patient care inevitably suffers.
Legacy Executives’ Excessive Compensation
Legacy executives repeatedly claim the health system is broke, but their own compensation tells a very different story. In 2024 alone, Legacy’s CEO was paid $3,861,658, while executive compensation across the system increased by 26%.
These executives are not the ones delivering bedside care, staffing clinics, or keeping patients safe. Yet Legacy continues to funnel millions to administrators while refusing to adequately compensate the clinicians who provide care. This imbalance is not only insulting—it is reckless.
Oregonians deserve a health system that prioritizes patients and frontline caregivers, not one that rewards executives while understaffing units and pushing experienced providers out the door. These priorities are not in line with what Oregonians expect and deserve from their healthcare systems.
What’s Next
The decisive rejection of this tentative agreement sends a clear message: Legacy APPs will not accept a contract that undervalues their work, drives turnover, and undermines patient care—especially while executives continue to reward themselves with outrageous salaries. We’re prepared to hold the line for as long as it takes to win the respect we deserve.
APPs remain ready to return to the bargaining table immediately and have offered to bargain every day, with or without a mediator, starting tomorrow, Sunday, December 28.
The path forward is clear—Legacy must stop delaying, negotiate in good faith, and present an offer that reflects the value of APPs and the needs of the communities they serve.
Per ONA policy, we will not be sharing the vote totals.
The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) represents a diverse community of more than 24,000 nurses and healthcare 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.
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