After 16 months and a strike, PeaceHealth signs contract with Eugene area hospice nurses

After 16 months of negotiations, a strike and unfair labor practice reports, nurses with PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services have ratified a four-year contract with PeaceHealth.

The Oregon Nurses Association represents approximately 90 nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services in Springfield. These nurses serve over 500 patients and perform crucial home visits for vulnerable individuals in Lane County — some of whom are in the final days, weeks or months of their lives.

After over 50 unsuccessful negotiation meetings, the nurses voted to ratify the latest contract offered by PeaceHealth.

The agreement came after a second strike authorization, which passed in mid-April. The home care nurses previously held a two-week strike in early February.

ONA highlighted key wins in the contract:

• More protections for community health by ensuring nurses who are exposed to communicable diseases can isolate to avoid compromising patients.

• Raised safety standards with an interdisciplinary workplace violence prevention committee to address workplace violence and prevention; physical and verbal abuse; and harassment issues unique to home care environments.

• Advanced training and education through increased support for nurses’ professional development.

• Established a health benefits task force to explore workers’ and families’ health needs and make recommendations to keep care accessible and affordable and promote accountability.

• Increased wages up to 16% over four years and raises pay for nurses with advanced degrees and skills. The contract also includes a one-time bonus for nurses still with PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services in January 2025.

While ONA celebrated those wins, its nurses were still concerned about wages.

The biggest ask the home care nurses had been looking for in a contract was pay equal to what in-hospital nurses receive and better staffing levels. These raises negotiated were enough to get a deal done, but negotiators said it was still unclear whether they would be enough to attract and retain staff, potentially leading to continued strain for current nurses.

A news release stated that even with contractual improvements, nurses at every other local PeaceHealth hospital and home care service will receive significantly higher wages than nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services – including workers at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield; PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence; and PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Home Health in Florence.

Jo Turner, ONA bargaining unit chair and hospice nurse at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services, thanked those who have supported the home care nurses and contract efforts over the past year.

"I’m touched by the support nurses and our patients received from people in every part of Lane County,” Turner said in a news release. "We know there’s more work to be done to expand access to health care and to keep holding PeaceHealth accountable to our community. I believe we can build on the work of our community coalitions and continue raising standards to make sure everyone in our community has access to high-quality, affordable health care."

PeaceHealth also expressed its gratitude to have reached a contract with the home health nurses.

"PeaceHealth home health, palliative and hospice caregivers, both union and non-union, deliver fantastic care to our patients and are important to this community," PeaceHealth stated. "This is the sixth union contract to be negotiated and ratified in the Oregon network and provides long-term stability for PeaceHealth and the care offered in Lane County."

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: PeaceHealth strikes deal with hospice nurses after 16-month battle