Link to Feb Testimonies: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/mediaplayer?clientID=4879615486&eventID=2026021051
All Asante Employees MEMO regarding HB2697: Tom Gessel's MEMO to Asante
We need to discuss what is happening across Oregon right now regarding hospital staffing and law enforcement.
For years, bedside nurses fought safe staffing laws because we knew unsafe staffing harms patients and drives healthcare workers out of the profession. We demanded accountability. We demanded enforceable standards. We demanded hospitals stop treating staffing as optional. Now that enforcement is happening and hospitals are facing significant financial penalties, we are watching a coordinated shift in narrative from hospital systems and hospital associations across the state.
The message we are increasingly hearing from management is:
“We do not have a staffing problem. We have a process problem.”
In other words, the argument being made is that hospitals are not being fined because staffing is unsafe; they are being fined because staffing plans are not being passed, and therefore the fault lies with staffing committees, labor members, or the structure of the law itself.
That distinction matters because it reframes the issue away from bedside conditions and toward discrediting the law and its enforcement mechanisms.
We are already seeing hospitals publicly challenge the legitimacy of the staffing law, question the enforcement process, and argue that penalties are unfair or inappropriate. Kaiser Permanente leadership has openly participated in testimony and discussions aligned with organizations pushing back against the current staffing enforcement structure.
We should expect these narratives to continue and evolve.
That does not mean members should panic. But it does mean we need to be prepared, informed, and clear-eyed about what is happening.
As bedside caregivers, we know staffing is more than a document or a committee vote. Staffing is whether patients receive timely care. Staffing is whether nurses can safely practice. Staffing is whether support systems exist to help healthcare workers do their jobs effectively.
And that includes support staff.
Nurses and patients absolutely deserve CNAs and ancillary support. We know those roles improve outcomes and reduce harm. But RN staffing committees cannot write another bargaining unit directly into RN staffing plans. That is not how the law or bargaining structure currently works.
What we can do is continue demanding that management invest in meaningful operational support systems instead of shifting more and more work to the bedside RN.
Many of us remember when hospitals had:
• Dedicated sitters
• Break nurses (used to be a real thing at SMC)
• Mobility and lift teams (that would help with turns and could be used for much more than just transport)
• Admission and discharge nurses (used to be a real thing at WMC)
These were real systems that reduced strain on bedside staff and improved patient care.
This conversation is not about blaming another union or bargaining for another bargaining unit. It is about refusing to accept the false choice between “unsafe staffing” and “nurses simply need to do more with less.”
And not to get political, but this is also why local elections matter.
When you vote for state representatives and local leaders, it is important to understand where they stand on safe staffing, hospital accountability, healthcare funding, and worker protections. The decisions being made in Salem directly impact on the enforcement of staffing laws and the future of bedside care in Oregon.
Be prepared to contact your local representatives, whether they are running for reelection or seeking office for the first time and ask where they stand on safe staffing enforcement and hospital accountability.
You can find your Oregon state legislators here: Find Your Oregon Legislator
Washington state legislators here (you can write to them to push their peers): Legislators
As this debate continues publicly and legally, members should pay close attention to the narratives being built around staffing law enforcement. Because what is happening now will shape staffing accountability in Oregon for years to come.