The Bend Bulletin: St. Charles health care workers renew their support for union representation
August 2, 2022
Delays from St. Charles Health System prompted the Central Oregon Providers Network, a group of doctors and health care professionals, to refile for union representation with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday morning. About 300 doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health care workers, who are members of the St. Charles Medical Group, initially filed for union representation on June 3 and pledged support for a union.
Becker's Hospital Review: St. Charles physicians, healthcare workers revive unionization efforts
August 2, 2022
St. Charles Medical Group physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other healthcare workers have refiled their petition with the National Labor Relations Board for union representation, according to an Aug. 1 news release. The approximately 300 workers are represented by the Central Oregon Providers Network and seek to hold an election to decide whether to join the American Federation of Teachers. Workers initially filed their petition in June. A new petition was filed Aug. 1 after St. Charles management raised issues amid the union organizing process, according to the release from the Central Oregon Providers Network.
Press Release: St. Charles Medical Center Doctors and Other Providers Re-file Petition with NLRB for Union Recognition
August 1, 2022
The Central Oregon Providers Network, representing about 300 St. Charles Medical Group physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other healthcare workers re-filed their petition today with the National Labor Relations Board for union representation, a re-do after hospital management stalled the process with unsubstantiated accusations.
The healthcare workers initially filed their petition on June 3, but St. Charles management alleged that some of the campaign’s original organizing team leaders were supervisors. The union disagreed but chose to re-start the process with a new card collection. The new petition for a union, like the previous one, would include all 300 providers.
Press Release: Central Oregon Providers Network on Resignation of St. Charles Health System President and CEO
July 12, 2022
The following is a statement from the Central Oregon Providers Network, which represents 300 St. Charles Medical Center physicians and other advanced-practice providers who have filed for union representation, on the resignation of St. Charles’ President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Sluka:
“The Central Oregon Providers Network will work respectfully with whomever is leading St. Charles Medical Center. It is our fervent wish to have a collaborative relationship that includes the right to unionize and have a voice in patient care.
“St. Charles management has asked the National Labor Relations Board to dismiss COPN’s petition for a secret ballot election. We hope this position will change under a new president and CEO and will give COPN the right to hold this legitimate election.”
The Bend Bulletin: St. Charles Health System CEO Joe Sluka steps down
July 12, 2022 - After eight years at the helm of Central Oregon’s four-hospital health system, Joe Sluka said he will step down as president and CEO.
Sluka cited the challenges of the pandemic and the financial fallout from that effort at St. Charles Health System as reasons for stepping down.
Oregon Public Broadcasting: St. Charles CEO resigns amid financial difficulties for health system
July 12, 2022 - The head of Central Oregon’s only hospital system resigned Tuesday, following a turbulent time that has seen increased financial difficulty and mass layoffs at the hospital.
Gist Healthcare Podcast: More Oregon Physicians Announce Plans to Unionize. Are They a Bellwether?
June 27, 2022 - This month, two groups of hospital-employed physicians in Oregon filed to join a union this month. In this episode, we hear from some of those doctors, as well as Mollie Skov-Ortega, MD, president of a long-standing hospitalist union.
The Lund Report: Oregon Health Care Workers Increasingly Turn to Unionsmn - St. Charles Patients Need Care, Not Be a Number or a Dollar Sign
June 21, 2022 - Dr. Devin Lee, a primary care physician who works in a PeaceHealth clinic in Eugene, is among a growing number of health care workers who are turning to unions to gain a voice with their corporate bosses.
Lee is one of 15 physicians, nurse practitioners and other providers at four Eugene-area PeaceHealth clinics who recently signed a letter of intent to unionize. Lee and his colleagues were concerned about inadequate staffing, extended shifts and less time to see patients.
The Bend Bulletin: Guest Column - St. Charles Patients Need Care, Not Be a Number or a Dollar Sign
June 15, 2022 - In the corporate world, time often equals money. The faster a product moves through production and out the door, the more money a company can make. Imagine that in terms of health care. Who wins when an emergency room or clinic doctor or nurse practitioner is told to work faster and move on to the next patient? The accountants, who are focused on the bottom line? Or patients, who have come seeking thorough, nurturing care when they are experiencing symptoms of a heart attack, having trouble breathing, overdosing or suffering injuries from a car accident?
St. Charles Medical Group physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other advanced-practice providers know that patients don’t win in this scenario, which unfortunately is a developing pattern in St. Charles hospitals and clinics.
HealthLeaders: Oregon Physicians File to Join Union
June 13, 2022 - Physicians and other healthcare workers at Bend, Oregon-based St. Charles Medical Group have filed for union representation from the American Federation of Teachers.
Union representation of physicians is relatively rare. Several factors are contributing to efforts to unionize physicians, including burnout, the growing physician as employee model, and desire among physicians to have a stronger voice in healthcare organization administration.
Beckers Hospital Review: St. Charles physicians, other healthcare workers want to unionize
June 6, 2022 - St. Charles Medical Group physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other healthcare workers have filed for union representation.
The approximately 300 workers are represented by the Central Oregon Providers Network and seek to hold an election to decide whether to join the American Federation of Teachers, according to a June 3 news release shared with Becker's.
The American Federation of Teachers is a national union with 1.7 million members, including 200,000 healthcare workers.
KBND Radio News: St. Charles Doctors And Other Providers Plan to Unionize
Jun 6, 2022 - BEND, OR -- More than 300 physicians, psychologists, midwives, and other providers who work at St Charles hospitals and clinics around Central Oregon are taking an unusual step. They say they have filed for union representation.
Physician Assistant Erin Butler tells KBND News frustration with the administration came to a breaking point three months ago, when Chief Medical Officer Richard Freeman was let go. "We had been making really good strides; people were feeling confident that we were part of a meaningful system, I think. Dr. Freeman was someone who we felt that he was going to bat for us and that he was on our team," She says, "To lose him, we really felt like we were losing our legs."
Butler says many feel the health system thinks they’re expendable and left out of important discussions.
Oregon Public Broadcasting: As St. Charles Health System faces financial crisis, its doctors want to unionize
June 3, 2022 -Following years of financial struggles, providers at Central Oregon’s largest hospital and health care system announced Friday they intend to form a union.
Speaking outside the St. Charles Medical Center campus in Bend, a group of providers said they plan on holding an election for a union, following years of what they describe as financial mismanagement by the hospital that has led to reductions in staff and services.
“St. Charles made what we consider very poor decisions before and during the pandemic … that put our health care system in this terrible financial crisis,” said Dr. Joshua Plank, a hospitalist at St. Charles.
KTVZ-TV (NBC, Fox and Telemundo): St. Charles physicians, health care workers file for union representation, call for more say in decision-making
June 3, 2022 - About 300 St. Charles employees, including hospitalist Dr. Josh Plank, filed for union representation Friday, upset with St. Charles administrators' decisions and seeking a greater voice in their workplace and future.
“With the bottom line as the focus, we miss the reason we are in this profession,” Plank said. “We are very concerned St. Charles will make more staff cuts to improve the bottom line, but will only serve to hurt patient care.”
The group is represented by the Central Oregon Providers Network, and are seeking to join the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers, a national union that includes 200,000 health care workers.
The Bend Bulletin: St. Charles Medical Group physicians, health care workers to unionize
June 3, 2022 - A group of doctors and medical personnel from St. Charles Medical Group want a bigger say in decisions that affect patient care and announced Friday they intend to form a union.
About 300 of the medical group’s physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health care workers signed cards indicating support to unionize, citing management choices, financial decisions and quality of patient care as their chief concerns. They plan to call themselves the Central Oregon Providers Network, which is under the umbrella of the American Federation of Teachers, a national union that includes 200,000 health care members and 1.7 million teachers.
“We wanted more of a voice at the table on how health care can be transformed,” said Dr. Jennifer Neahring, a palliative care physician at St. Charles Medical Group. “We felt that the administrators were unable to make those decisions without our front-line input. It’s impossible for people who are in administrative positions to understand the impact they make when weighing costs and patient care.”
Press Release: St. Charles Medical Group Physicians and Other Healthcare Workers To File for Union Representation
June 3, 2022
The Central Oregon Providers Network, representing approximately 300 St. Charles Medical Group physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other healthcare workers, filed for union representation today, joining the growing surge of workers across the country who are demanding a voice in the workplace.
The healthcare workers with the St. Charles Medical Group will join the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers, a national union that includes 200,000 healthcare workers. The providers work at the four St. Charles hospitals and other healthcare facilities across six cities in central Oregon—Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. COPN hopes to hold an election in the coming weeks. It is relatively rare for physicians and other advanced-practice providers to seek union representation, making this effort especially significant.
The hospital system is facing a serious financial crisis, which COPN contends is a result of poor choices made before and during the pandemic. The union says that current management choices to address the budget crisis—choices that are detrimental to the quality of patient care—are being made without providers’ collaboration or input. Through a union and collective bargaining, COPN says it would work with hospital management to agree on decisions that will protect patients and their care.
“With a union, St. Charles will no longer be able to ignore our input affecting patient care. We need to be at the table and work with the administration to ensure patients are the top priority. Through collaboration, we can improve patient care and ensure responsible decision-making,” said Dr. Josh Plank, a hospitalist.
Tracy Kennelley, an urgent care physician assistant-certified, said she is concerned about increasing patient volumes and short-staffing.