Founded in 1979, the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP), AFT Local 5017 is a union of more than 5,000 nurses and health professionals in Oregon and SW Washington. We know that when healthcare workers are united across job classifications and disciplines, we become a more powerful voice for our patients, our community, and ourselves.
Through our union, we can achieve together what we can’t do alone–better wages, affordable health care, a secure retirement, and safer workplaces. We have the power to improve our lives at work, protect our patients, and lift up our community.
Who makes up OFNHP?
Nearly 6,000 healthcare workers working for Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and SW Washington are protected by standard-setting union contracts, a separate contract for each of these groups:
- Laboratory Professionals (including Medical Technologists, Cytogenetic Technologists and Microbiology Technologists)
- Professionals (including Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Physical Therapists, Medical Social Workers, and staff working in dozens of other classifications)
- Registered Dental Hygienists
- RNs working in both inpatient and outpatient settings
- Technical employees (including Advanced Dispensing Opticians, Surgical Techs, Respiratory Therapists, Sleep Lab Assistants, and many others)
- Oregon Nurses Association RNs at Kaiser’s Interstate campus, who have their own contract and are represented by OFNHP
Almost 1,500 healthcare workers from Oregon and SW Washington with the PeaceHealth system:
- Technical professionals at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center (including Surgical Techs, Respiratory Therapists, Radiology Techs, Pharmacy Techs, and many others)
- Service and Maintenance professionals at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center
- Technical professionals at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart in Eugene (LPNs, Therapists, Technologists, and Technicians)
- Laboratory Professionals at PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center
Around 150 technical healthcare professionals and caregivers with St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, as well as another fifty technical professionals at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in the Dalles have recently joined our union as well. Together we are building a powerhouse collection of healthcare workers looking to improve care and conditions for the entire healthcare system of the Pacific Northwest!
Our Labor Movement Partners
OFNHP is part of the healthcare division of American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which represents more than 1.6 million members including educators and public services workers. Over 112,000 members strong, AFT Nurses and Health Professionals helps our local union protect and enhance the professional standards of healthcare workers and advocate for policies that improve the quality of healthcare in our communities.
Local unions affiliated with AFT Nurses and Health Professionals include our union siblings at the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) and the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA). Between them, they represent approximately 29,000 RNs working for nearly 100 healthcare employers.
The AFT is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, the umbrella federation for U.S. unions, with 56 unions representing 12.5 million working men and women. Through our relationship with the AFL-CIO, we take legislative and political action at the state and national levels for policies that benefit working families.