New Contract Promises Fair Pay and Safer Staffing for 700 Oregon Nurses

More than 700 nurses working with Samaritan Health Services at two hospitals in the Willamette Valley have reached tentative agreements that promise safer hospitals, better staffing, and more affordable healthcare.

This follows months of negotiations that began in March, and the healthcare workers will begin the voting process on Monday to introduce the changes to existing contracts.

Terms of the new contract give the nurses, who are employed at the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis and the Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, a stronger voice if the hospitals decide to close departments, and they will also enjoy fair wage increases.

In the meantime, their union – the Oregon Nurses Association – will continue its campaign to maintain labor and delivery services in coastal and rural regions of the state. ONA is calling on the public to support the campaign by visiting its website and voicing their concerns about proposed cutbacks on birth centers and emergency surgery teams.