St. Charles Bend says all is well on Day 2 of strike; nurse offers different view
Hospital says it expects 'normal' operations as of Saturday; Hummel, Kropf visit picketers in support
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- St. Charles Health System officials painted an upbeat picture of Bend hospital operations on Friday as a strike by more than 150 medical technologists entered a second day, but a registered nurse offered a different perspective.
Here's the full text of a news release issued by St. Charles on Friday morning.
At St. Charles Bend, patient care is proceeding as normal
St. Charles Bend technical workers represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) went on strike at 8 a.m. Thursday for an indefinite period of time. Representatives from the hospital and union are scheduled to meet again March 10 with a federal mediator.
“I'm looking forward to getting this situation resolved and welcoming our caregivers back,” said St. Charles Bend President Aaron Adams. “They are missed already.”
St. Charles has engaged with an outside agency to recruit dozens of highly skilled replacement workers who will cover shifts at the hospital for the duration of the strike.
“Each person is thoroughly vetted by the agency and St. Charles to ensure they have the proper qualifications and work experience to competently perform their role,” said Vice President of Human Resources Rebecca Berry. “Additionally, they go through an on-site onboarding process.”
St. Charles scheduled limited surgical procedures for Thursday and Friday, and some cases were moved to St. Charles Redmond. Now that the replacement workforce is in place, the hospital anticipates operating normally as of Saturday.
“We are pleased with how well the transition to the replacement workforce went Thursday,” Adams said. “Technicians came from all corners of the country, and from some of the top medical centers. We’re pleased we have been able to mitigate disruptions to our health care services.”
The union had no immediate response to St. Charles' portrayal of the situation, but a registered nurse at the hospital, Corey Sattler, a member of the Oregon Nurses Association, which is supporting the strikers, contacted NewsChannel 21 to dispute the status of operations:
"Patient care today in the Main OR at St Charles Medical Center in Bend is practically non-existent due to the significant decrease in surgeries. The claim that the 'hospital is open and providing care as usual' made by hospital administration is not accurate, and it is simply impossible given the current circumstances.
"There are replacement surgical and radiology technicians on site, but they are not trained to the level that our native techs are as to the equipment, policies, best practices, and staff. Because of this, the nurses at St. Charles are highly skeptical that the high level of care and competence we had previously is obtainable by these temporary workers, whose training, skill levels, and practice are unknowns.
"Additionally, these replacements have received almost no typical orientation to their units - an unheard of action and well outside of best practice. As the primary advocates for our patients, we are concerned that this is negatively impacting our ability to provide the level of care they, and our community as a whole, deserve.
"The RNs urge St. Charles to end this strike by meeting the reasonable and deserved requests being made by OFNHP," Sattler concluded.
Also in support of the striking workers are Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel and state Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend.
Stood today on the picket line with the brave members of OFNHP. They shared with me that this strike is about more than just their pay, it’s about putting pressure on St. Charles to invest in improving health outcomes for our community. #UnionStrong pic.twitter.com/nkaXiMceaP
— John Hummel (@john_hummel) March 4, 2021
Kropf posted a similar tweet Friday morning.
Today I stood in solidarity with @OFNHP to support the Technical Staff at St. Charles as they fight for a fair first contract. Workers deserve adequate pay, safe working conditions and the right to bargain collectively for a fair contract. pic.twitter.com/pZ8HtaXJSg
— Jason Kropf (@JasonForBend) March 5, 2021
