ChrisRompala,chair of the bargaining team for the two PeaceHealth facilities in the Eugene area and a PeaceHealth staff nurse, told OB nurses were picketing in front of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield because they had 25 failed negotiation sessions for nurses to get fair wages and safe staffing conditions. Tamie Cline, ONA’s president and a nurse at Good Shepherd in Hermiston, said the union is asking for PeaceHealth for the same ratios the House Bill 2697 would require. (These ratios vary depending on the department but are one-to-one in departments like the emergency room and one-to-four in departments like telemetry and postnatal care.) But the hospital system had said they would only adopt the required staffing ratio if the law passes. Cline spoke with OB before the legislative session reconvened after a six-week walkout and passed HB 2697. That bill does not take effect until next summer, however. Cline says some hospitals in the state have already achieved the staffing levels recommended in the bill, but that PeaceHealth was unwilling to consider such a move unless required to by law. A spokesperson for PeaceHealth did not respond directly to a question about that claim about negotiations, but did say the hospital system would comply with the law. “PeaceHealth remains committed to reaching agreements on contracts that our Home and Community and Sacred Heart Medical Center nurses can be proud of and support. We continue to make progress at the table and are hopeful we can reach agreements with ONA soon so that our nurses may benefit from the improvements these new contracts would provide,” said a written statement from PeaceHealth spokesperson Stefanie Valentino. “We are committed to making sure we remain an employer of choice so our caregivers want to continue their career here with us. In terms of staffing, this topic is of utmost importance and a priority for everyone. That is why we are also in the process of recruiting over 300 RNs to RiverBend/Sacred Heart. In addition PeaceHealth is committed to following any applicable local, state and federal law,” Valentino added. “Our nurses need a change to provide the care they know they can provide,” Rompala says. Kyle Cook, a registered nurse at Providence and member of the ONA bargaining team, told OB during the strike that Providence refused to come to the table for the 10 days between the strike vote and the strike. Nicole Zapata, R.N., leads picketers at Providence Portland Medical Center. Tamie Cline, ONA’s president and a nurse at Good Shepherd in Hermiston, speaks at the Southeast Portland headquarters of AFL-CIO. 28
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