Gresham’s Legacy Mount Hood Nurses Ready to Walk Out if Hospital Fails to Meet Demands

GRESHAM, Ore. — After 21 months of negotiation, 400 nurses at the Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham are ready to go on strike if two further round-table discussions do not meet their demands for fair wages and benefits.

Two Further Rounds of Discussion Are Scheduled

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) has announced that the union will meet with hospital executives on August 22 and 28 and, unless a fair agreement is reached, the nurses have voted to go on strike.

Legacy has indicated that it too wants to resolve the situation.

The Legacy Mount Hood nurses formed a union in 2023, and in December that year, ONA began bargaining on their behalf.

Their decision to join ONA was ignited by a controversy when Legacy announced it would close the Mount Hood birthing center. The attempt was blocked by the Oregon Health Authority, and the center was ultimately reopened in April 2023.

Nurses Want Better Pay and Conditions

Apart from a better salary scale and benefits, nurses are seeking a stronger voice in decision-making, and want Legacy Health to make meaningful attempts to recruit and retain front-line caregivers.

Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center was established in 1959 and is a 115-bed facility, operating as the second-largest healthcare system in the Portland metro area.

Legacy Health has six hospitals, including a full-service children’s hospital, and more than 70 clinics in Portland and Washington state, and is a nonprofit healthcare provider.