Dozens Rally to Show Support for Nurses in Baker City
By Joe Hathaway on Thursday, August 31st, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY – Holding signs that said “Recruit, Retain, Respect” and “I (Heart) St. Alphonsus Nurses”, more than 30 nurses and community members gathered at Geiser Pollman Park to show their support for local nurses and demand St. Alphonsus retain local healthcare services
The rally, held on Wednesday, August 30 and organized by the Oregon Nurses Association, comes on the heels of the closure of the birthing center at the St. Alphonsus Hospital in Baker City, the only OB care center in Baker County.
“We’re here to show St. Alphonsus senior leadership that this community cares very much about this hospital,” said Alyson Rino, a Baker City native who is a nurse at St. Alphonsus. “The community cares about keeping services locally, which includes ICU and OB care. We want these services to stay close to home.”
St. Alphonsus closed its ICU Center earlier this year.
On top of fighting to keep local health services, the nurses say they are also asking St. Alphonsus come to a fair contract agreement to keep wages competitive.
“We’ve had at least a dozen or more nurses leave our facility and go work in La Grande for five to ten dollars more an hour,” said Rino. “We’re just asking for competitive wages to keep nurses here.”
St. Alphonsus has cited staffing shortages and financial issues as some of the reasons for the removal of the ICU and OB centers.
Megan Nelson, an ER nurse and ONA Chair at St. Alphonsus Medical Center, says the closures and what she says is a lack of transparency and compassion from St. Alphonsus is hurting the Baker community. “We love our community and we want to see it grow, but that won’t happen if they keep taking services away. No young person who has a family or wants to start a family will want to move here to help revitalize it.”
“It’s hard to fight a giant corporation when your community means nothing to them,” said Nelson.
St. Alphonsus is based out of Boise, Idaho and owned by Trinity Health, the 5th largest health care system in the country.
Speakers at the rally included a local doctor Dean Defrees and Tami Cline, the president of the ONA.
Baker County Commission Chair Shane Alderson tells Elkhorn Media Group that he’s been hosting officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Baker County to try and find solutions to the lack of OB care.
Alderson says he and the county’s next steps are discussing lodging and transportation for expecting mothers.
