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 today, and some cases were moved to St. Charles Redmond. Now that 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.”
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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