Caregivers

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SEIU Local 49 President Meg Niemi speaks during an event Thursday Sept. 14, 2023 in Southeast Portland with over 100 union members and supporters. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Potential strike looms at Kaiser Permanente as employees approve work stoppage

The strike authorization vote is intended to increase pressure on the health care consortium as workers seek better pay and staffing

Sep 14, 2023
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During a rally at PeaceHealth's University District hospital in Eugene on Sept. 11, 2023, Oregon Nurses Association executive director Anne Tan Piazza addresses the crowd. | CHRISTIAN WIHTOL/THE LUND REPORT

Pressure grows on PeaceHealth to keep Eugene hospital open

Despite outcry from community leaders and workers, the health system shows no sign of changing course, and officials may have scant authority to prevent closure

Sep 12, 2023
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Oregon Health & Science University Center for Health and Healing Building 2 in the South Waterfront neighborhood, July 2020. | SHUTTERSTOCK

Possible strike looms as OHSU, nurses union negotiations hit impasse

Both sides say they want to avoid a strike. The union recently touted big concessions following a strike against a different health system.

Aug 17, 2023
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The emergency department at Legacy Good Samaritan hospital in Portland on July 30, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Legacy directs nurses, ED staff to act as security, pat down patients

The new directive, following the recent fatal shooting of a security guard, sparked outrage among staff who say it will endanger them

Aug 17, 2023
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Nurses and other health care workers along with their supporters took to the picket lines outside Providence Portland Medical Center on Monday as the state’s largest nurses union called a five-day strike. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Nurses declare victory in negotiations with Providence in Portland, Seaside

A notice from the Oregon Nurses Association to members before any official announcement called the tentative contracts 'historic,' but talks continue for home health care nurses

Aug 11, 2023
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PIXABAY

Multnomah County dentists picket over proposal to increase patient numbers

Dentists at the county's safety-net dental clinics use lighter schedules one day a week to catch up on paperwork and tackle tougher cases; now they say the county wants to end that practice.

Aug 10, 2023
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Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland. | M.O. STEVENS/WIKIMEDIA

Hospital doctors at Providence St. Vincent vote overwhelmingly to unionize

The union vote comes amid a wave of organizing by health care workers. Doctors are less likely to unionize, but that could be changing.

Aug 2, 2023
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A pile of flowers and a note eulogizing Bobby Smallwood, a security officer for Legacy Health, sit outside the Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was killed during a confrontation on July 30, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Legacy Health vows changes after killing. Nurses and others say it’s not enough.

The health system promises better security, but nurses want 24-7 coverage and additional protections after an uptick in local attacks on health workers

Jul 31, 2023
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LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

Legacy shooting prompts nurses union to decry unsafe conditions at Oregon hospitals

After a hospital security guard was killed over the weekend in Portland, the union urges more patient and visitor screening as well as staff training and support

Jul 25, 2023
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Kaiser Permanente workers represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 49 hold a picket outside Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro on July 24, 2023 to pressure the managed care consortium on contract negotiations. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Kaiser Permanente workers picket as contract talks heat up

Similar to other employees in healthcare, picketing workers want better staffing and working conditions

Jul 24, 2023
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