By CHRISTIAN WIHTOL/YachatsNews
Registered nurses at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport are looking at big pay raises in a tentative new contract.
Capping five months of negotiations, Samaritan Health System management and the nurses’ union Friday reached the tentative three-year deal, which nurses must now vote on, the Oregon Nurses Association said.
The proposed deal largely gives nurses what they wanted. It includes a 9.65 percent increase in base wages effective July 1, followed by raises of 5.25 percent on July 1, 2025 and 3.75 percent on July 1, 2026.
The 9.65 percent raise takes the nurses to parity with Samaritan’s flagship Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis. The deal also lets the union reopen wage negotiations if the Corvallis nurses secure wage increases in 2025 and 2026 that exceed the levels set for the Pacific Communities nurses. The Corvallis contract expires next June 30.
The proposed contract contains a no-strike clause for the contract’s duration. However, if the Corvallis nurses secure raises higher than the 5.25 percent and 3.75 percent, a strike would be allowed if after 30 days of talks there were no agreement. The strike ability would give nurses “real leverage to maintain parity,” Pacific Communities union leaders wrote to membership in urging approval.
“We anticipate that we’ll be back at the table to secure wage increases to keep parity with (Corvallis) in 2025,” the leaders wrote.
Parity with Corvallis nurses was a priority for the Pacific Communities union members. The union represents over 100 registered nurses at the Newport hospital.
In addition to the base pay raises, the contract would also provide annual step increases of about 3 percent, rewarding nurses’ increased experience.
In a statement Monday, Samaritan Health Services said “This agreement reflects Samaritan’s collaborative efforts to resolve the questions raised throughout the bargaining process.”
Parity with Corvallis
The union said the proposed agreement raises “nearly every differential” to provide parity in Newport with the Corvallis hospital. Pay differentials include working night or evening shifts; supervising a student; holding a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing; working weekends; working as a charge nurse overseeing other nurses; and working as a clinical coordinator overseeing care.
Under the proposed agreement, a full-time nurse with seven years of experience would have their base pay immediately rise to about $120,000 a year from about $110,000.
Nurses at Pacific Communities said compensation must be at par with other Samaritan hospitals to cover the high cost of living in the Newport area and to retain nurses. They said the hospital currently has high nursing turnover and relies heavily on expensive temporary so-called traveler nurses.
“The tentative contract agreement includes numerous improvements to raise local healthcare standards including equal pay for equal work for nurses at Samaritan Pacific, Samaritan Albany General Hospital and Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis,” the Oregon Nurses Association said in a statement. “Providing equal pay for equal work, along with other improvements, will give Samaritan more tools to address staffing issues on the coast; recruit and retain nurses; and ensure people across Lincoln County continue to have access to high-quality, safe, and affordable healthcare.”
Union leaders said they will distribute a full copy of the proposed contract this week and plan a vote shortly afterward.
Nurses at Samaritan’s Albany hospital reached a very similar tentative deal at the end of July, raising their base pay to Corvallis standards and allowing for the pay issue to be re-opened if the Corvallis nurses win larger raises than in the Albany contract.
- Christian Wihtol is a Eugene-based freelance journalist specializing in health care. He can be reached at wihtol@Yahoo.com
