Providence is committed to collaboration during labor talks

For more than 130 years, Providence has provided high-quality health care in southwest Washington. We continue to be committed to building partnerships inside and outside our organization to ensure we provide the care our community counts on. That belief in partnership has been a guiding principle in our approach to our ongoing contract negotiations. We have put a strong proposal on the table that reflects our values as an organization while honoring the commitment our nurses bring to the hospital.

A focus of our proposal is increasing compensation and providing excellent, affordable health coverage for our represented registered nurses. Currently, the average wage for Providence St. Peter Hospital RNs is $44.35 per hour. That’s more than $99,739 per year after overtime and other incentives, which is market competitive. We have proposed increased wages for nurses in every year of the collective bargaining agreement.

With respect to health coverage, our RNs pay less than $60 per month on average for their health care premiums, including for family coverage. This is also a market-leading benefit, and one we are proud to be able to offer.

As is reflected by our proposal, caregivers at all levels of our organization, whether top level executives or anyone else, are provided with market-competitive compensation and benefits. This is our goal in negotiations, and our proposal is evidence of that principle.

Our proposal recognizes people go into health care with a desire to help others. This ethos is at the core of our mission. The demands of a career in nursing are significant; that is why we have proposed a paid time-off (PTO) benefit that will allow nurses to take up to 7 weeks of PTO per year. PTO is all-inclusive of vacation, holiday and sick time. It is a modern and flexible plan which caters to our hardworking caregivers. We also are continuing to negotiate with our nurses how we can best give value to accrued sick time as we transition to the new benefits program.

In addition to the PTO plan, our nurses will benefit from a new employer-paid short-term disability benefit and paid parental leave that will provide a financial safety net when they need to take time away from work due to an illness or injury for themselves or their dependent family. Our nurses will be able to access this short-term disability benefit after taking one work week of PTO. This is in addition to the state short-term disability benefit – especially important since more than three-quarters of our nurses have less than 100 hours in their illness bank.

Providence St. Peter Hospital is at its best when we all work together for our patients. We know everyone benefits when our caregivers have the resources they need to thrive. We are proud we are living our values and will continue to address our nurses concerns, including sick time, through our contract negotiations.

At St. Peter and throughout Providence, we are always looking for best practices. Processes to perform basic tasks are often outdated, complex and challenging to navigate. That’s why we are partnering with respected administrative service providers to better serve our caregivers. As we outsource roles in some areas, we are investing and hiring in others. We have over 300 open positions in southwest Washington, and thousands throughout Providence.

The community has come to expect and depend on our care, and our caregivers work hard every day to deliver on our commitment as an organization. It is a privilege to be our community’s health partner.