St. Charles and OFNHP met with federal mediator to continue negotiations on a first-time contract
Bargaining teams for St. Charles Bend and the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals met Wednesday for continued negotiations on a first-time contract. This session included a federal mediator in an effort to move the process forward.
The parties exchanged proposals through the mediator in confidential sessions.
“The bargaining teams engaged in some joint sessions throughout the day and the presence of the mediator was very helpful,” said Aaron Adams, president of St. Charles Bend. “We are hopeful we can get back to the table soon for further discussion.”
The St. Charles bargaining team shared with the OFNHP team that the hospital is eager to get back to the table and resolve the situation, but continues to find it challenging to both bargain and run the hospital during a strike. For this reason, St. Charles has asked the union if its members would be willing to return to work so the hospital can create an environment in which its team could better focus on bargaining.
“No one wins in a strike – not the health system, not our caregivers, not our patients, not our community,” Adams said. “We want the strike to end so we can get back to the table, resolve the contract and focus all of our energy on the most important work of all – caring for our patients.”
About St. Charles Health System
St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.
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