ONA Statement In Response To Asante CEO's Message On Job Cuts
- 05/04/26
(MEDFORD, Ore.) - The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) issued the following statement in response to Asante CEO Tom Gessel’s email to staff outlining projected cuts to more than 300 Oregonians’ jobs.
“Asante executives are once again cutting caregivers and looking for someone else to blame. Let’s be clear about what’s actually happening. Asante executives chose to fire 400 Southern Oregonians in 2024; they chose to shut down Ashland Hospital’s family birth center and inpatient care; they chose to push out dozens of experienced doctors and neonatologists—specialists who care for premature babies and sick infants.
Now they are proposing to fire hundreds more caregivers across Southern Oregon.
These are not forced decisions. Asante executives are responsible for their actions.
Blaming frontline caregivers who save lives and staffing standards that keep patients safe is just plain wrong. It's egregious for Asante executives to rack up nearly a million dollars in fines for failing to follow a staffing law designed to keep patients safe—and then turn around and blame the law and the frontline caregivers fighting to uphold it. Suggesting the thousands of Southern Oregonians who rely on the Oregon Health Plan for lifesaving care are part of the problem is even more outrageous.
Asante executives are responsible for the problems they’ve created.
Healthcare has real problems—increasing corporatization, skyrocketing executive salaries, and federal funding cuts from the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” which could put nearly 280,000 Oregonians at risk of losing health coverage. But cutting care and eliminating staff only makes these problems worse.
If Asante executives are serious about addressing these challenges, they should stop stalling and sit down at the bargaining table with nurses and techs to work on real solutions that protect patients, retain caregivers and put our community first.
It’s time for Asante executives to take responsibility for their decisions, stop cutting our community’s safety net and start working together with local caregivers to improve our community’s health and safety."
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ONA Statement In Response To Asante CEO's Message On Job Cuts
- 05/04/26
(MEDFORD, Ore.) - The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) issued the following statement in response to Asante CEO Tom Gessel’s email to staff outlining projected cuts to more than 300 Oregonians’ jobs.
“Asante executives are once again cutting caregivers and looking for someone else to blame. Let’s be clear about what’s actually happening. Asante executives chose to fire 400 Southern Oregonians in 2024; they chose to shut down Ashland Hospital’s family birth center and inpatient care; they chose to push out dozens of experienced doctors and neonatologists—specialists who care for premature babies and sick infants.
Now they are proposing to fire hundreds more caregivers across Southern Oregon.
These are not forced decisions. Asante executives are responsible for their actions.
Blaming frontline caregivers who save lives and staffing standards that keep patients safe is just plain wrong. It's egregious for Asante executives to rack up nearly a million dollars in fines for failing to follow a staffing law designed to keep patients safe—and then turn around and blame the law and the frontline caregivers fighting to uphold it. Suggesting the thousands of Southern Oregonians who rely on the Oregon Health Plan for lifesaving care are part of the problem is even more outrageous.
Asante executives are responsible for the problems they’ve created.
Healthcare has real problems—increasing corporatization, skyrocketing executive salaries, and federal funding cuts from the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” which could put nearly 280,000 Oregonians at risk of losing health coverage. But cutting care and eliminating staff only makes these problems worse.
If Asante executives are serious about addressing these challenges, they should stop stalling and sit down at the bargaining table with nurses and techs to work on real solutions that protect patients, retain caregivers and put our community first.
It’s time for Asante executives to take responsibility for their decisions, stop cutting our community’s safety net and start working together with local caregivers to improve our community’s health and safety."
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