BEND, OR -- Nurses from St. Charles, other health care providers, and elected officials held a public rally and informational picket Monday at the intersection of Neff Road and 27th Street near the Bend hospital.
Nurse Megan Bovi, a member of the Oregon Nurses Association negotiating team, tells KBND News talks with the hospital over wages, staffing, and health and safety concerns still have a way to go, “There’s been some movement but not as much as we would like, and not enough for us as nurses to feel like we’ve been supported, and we’ve been heard. The proposals that have been on the table have not been anywhere close.” Bovi says nurses are negatively affected by the current working conditions, “It’s gotten a little bit better, at least for a mental change for me. But if we don’t start making a change, no one’s going to be left to take care of us.”
She also supports a bill working through the legislature, “Every floor and every department has their own staffing ratios that will be safe and appropriate for them. If this House bill does pass, it will put that into law, so we will be able to hold St Charles even more accountable for keeping us as nurses and the patients safe, as well.”
St Charles officials issued a statement this week: “We agree with the ONA about the importance of retaining and recruiting health care professionals and are happy to report that despite a national shortage of nurses we have been making significant progress,” said Julie Ostrom, service line administrator for trauma and surgical services and a member of the St. Charles bargaining team. “Over the past nine months, we have hired more new caregivers than we have lost to turnover in that timeframe and we have reduced the number of open nursing positions at the Bend hospital to 80. In addition, a recent $5 hourly wage increase for all bedside nurses puts St. Charles wages at the second highest in the state (for an average annual full-time salary of $108,000 a year). We respect our nurses for the difficult job they do caring for our patients and community and are proud to offer a competitive pay and benefit package.”
More contract talks are scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday, and could continue into May and June.
