PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Advanced practice providers (APPs) represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) are staying out on the picket line after members overwhelmingly rejected the tentative contract agreement reached with Legacy Health reached Dec. 23.
According to a representative with the ONA, APPs voted to continue the strike, claiming Legacy has failed to make significant movement at the bargaining table, has shown disrespect to APPs, and has operated on a management of hypocrisy.
PAST COVERAGE | Striking health care workers reach tentative agreement with Legacy Health
ONA issued a press release, writing, “Since issuing a strike notice, advanced practice providers (APPs) repeatedly offered to meet at any time and in any location to move negotiations forward. Legacy Health instead chose to delay bargaining and engage in bad-faith tactics.”
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“[Legacy]They have never taken our time very seriously. They have routinely been late to bargaining, they’ve no-showed to bargaining, they’ve changed bargaining from in-person to virtual at the last minute when all of us showed up on our free time to do this, they have said incredible disrespectful things to us during bargaining,” said Leigh Warsing, a physician associate at Legacy Emanuel and member of the bargaining team. “The fact that they haven’t moved at all on their contract, their proposal to us really devalues us and dismisses what we’re worth.”
APPs also believed the proposed deal would still leave Legacy APPs far behind their peers at other health systems.
“The proposed agreement would have left Legacy APPs 10% behind their counterparts at OHSU, and behind what Kaiser APPs have been offered—perpetuating a widening wage and standards gap that threatens the long-term stability of Legacy’s workforce,” ONA said.
The statement continued, “This disparity would inevitably drive experienced APPs out of the system, worsening patient care, increasing burnout among remaining staff, and inflating costs as Legacy is forced into a constant recruitment and retention cycle of its own making. When frontline providers are undervalued, patient care inevitably suffers.”
Warsing echoed that sentiment.
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“There’s a lot of experience in some of these departments, and the fear is that we will lose those providers,” Warsing said. “If the hospital is not willing to competitively keep providers, then they’re going to leave, and we don’t want them to leave. We want our teams to stay together, and we know that we provide amazing patient care as an excellent team, and that’s going to be torn apart of we’re not treated fairly, respectfully, and paid competitively.”
The proposed deal included pay raises, new pay scales, and protections for discipline and termination, as well as the creation of a labor-management committee.
However, the tentative agreement came just days after Legacy executives issued a notice to striking APPs that they could be stripped of health insurance starting January 1.
April Callister, a physician associate at Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Good Samaritan, as well as a member of the bargaining team, said this move could be devastating.
“It would be huge a hit to a lot of striking APPs,” Callister said. “These are people with families, with children, with chronic health conditions who need medications every month. These are people with doctors’ visits. I mean, APPs not only care for people, they’re also people that require care, so it would be really devastating if Legacy were to follow through on that.”
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According to Callister, it was important for a tentative agreement to be brought forward to union members due to the uncertainty as the strike continues.
“We’ve been on the strike line for 25 days now,” she said. “People have sacrificed so much to be out here during the holidays away from their family without a paycheck, and now Legacy is threatening to take away the insurance of these providers, and we felt it was really important to give members opportunity to say whether or not this sacrifice was worth it for them, and if they were willing and able to continue fighting for what we’re worth.”
APPs have been on strike since Dec. 2 to reach a contract that they say pays them fairly.
Since the strike began, Callister tells KATU since the strike began, a lot of the physicians have been picking up the pieces.
“Unfortunately, Legacy seems to have put a lot of burden on our physician colleagues, which is incredible sad to see,” Callister said. “We work in a very collaborative environment with all of our team members.”
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“Advanced practice providers—including nurse practitioners, physician associates, and clinical nurse specialists—are highly trained clinicians who save lives, perform surgeries, and care for families every day,” ONA said. “They deliver essential, lifesaving care across a wide range of settings and are critical to the health and safety of communities throughout Oregon.”
Warsing said if they can’t come to an agreement, the impact on patients will be losing quality health care providers.
“Patients deserve quality providers, and if all of your quality providers are only in one institution, then it makes it kind of hard for the patients because we can’t just send all of the patients to the one quality institution in the city,” Warsing said.
ONA representatives told KATU they will return to the bargaining table immediately.
“We’re available to bargain,” Warsing said. “The members have resoundingly voted it [the tentative agreement] down, and we’ve informed Legacy lead
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KATU News has reached out to Legacy Health, awaiting comment.
The University of Oregon’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve a $1.55 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year.
But they asked university leadership to return with an amended proposal by Dec. 15, when more details about future budget cuts will be known.
FILE — The Board of Trustees recently approved next year’s budget for the University of Oregon. The vote comes several weeks after the school’s president announced that he wants the university to reduce its annual budget as revenues and out-of-state enrollment decline.
Brian Bull / KLCC
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The vote comes several weeks after University of Oregon President Karl Scholz announced that he wants the school to reduce its annual budget by around $65 million.
At a trustees meeting Monday, Scholz said the estimated budget shortfall for next year is just around $23 million. But he said out-of-state enrollment is below historical norms for the second year in a row, and it’s unlikely to bounce back.
“One year can be an aberration. Two years is a pattern,” said Scholz. “And I believe we have to treat it as a new reality.”
Scholz said in May that discussions about the budget would happen over a six-month period. He said no final decisions about cuts would be made over this summer.
On Monday, UO Senate President Dyana Mason told trustees that the Senate had approved a new process to allow for community feedback in the cost-cutting process.
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Mason said the provost will work with the deans on budget proposals, finding “clear rationale” for why programs are considered for elimination.
The provost would then bring those proposals to the Senate Committee for Academic Modifications—which includes staff, faculty and students—for feedback.
Once the plans are nearly finalized, the Senate could then hold a period for public comment.
Mason told trustees that a six-month timeline is better than the three months that frustrated some staff last year, but she recommended taking however much time is necessary.
“The worst situation would be rushing forward to make decisions without appropriate evidence, data, feedback from the people that are most in the know about the impact on our students,” said Mason.
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UO’s Board of Trustees Chair Steve Holwerda said that every week that university delays the decisions could cost them millions of dollars.
Nathan Wilk is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom.This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
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Oregon’s juvenile justice system has been reshaped in recent years by a sweeping reform law that changed how the state handles minors accused of serious crimes.
Senate Bill 1008, which took effect in 2020, ended automatic transfers of juveniles into adult court and eliminated life without parole sentences for juveniles. The law also created “second-look” hearings and established parole eligibility after 15 years for certain offenders who committed crimes before turning 18.
To help explain the law and its impact, KVAL’s Frannie Pedersen put together a timeline video tracing the history of Senate Bill 1008, from the passage of Measure 11 in 1994 to the reforms that later reshaped Oregon’s juvenile justice system.
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The video breaks down how the law changed, why lawmakers pushed for reform, and how SB 1008 continues to influence Oregon’s justice system today. Viewers can watch the full video for a detailed timeline and explanation of the changes.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A New Jersey man was sentenced to federal prison last Friday for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon.
Mark T. Eager, 34, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
“This defendant showed a blatant disregard for human life by trafficking fentanyl across the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Bradford. “My office will continue to pursue those who profit from poisoning our communities, and we will use every available resource and partnership to combat fentanyl trafficking and keep Oregonians safe.”
“This investigation brought together law enforcement agencies from across the nation,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle acting Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “Homeland Security Investigations special agents from Portland, Newark, and Houston contributed to the case, along with the Portland Police Bureau and HIDTA HIT officers, who were instrumental in identifying Eager. His 11-year sentence sends a clear message: no matter where you are in the country or the world, if you attempt to sell narcotics online to Americans, we will find you.”
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“Fentanyl trafficking poses a grave threat to communities across the United States, and Homeland Security Investigations is committed to working with our partners to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks responsible,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Lucia Cabral-DeArmas. “This case demonstrates the power of interagency collaboration under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, leveraging resources from across the country to hold traffickers accountable and protect the American people. We will continue to pursue those who endanger lives through the distribution of dangerous synthetic opioids, and we remain steadfast in our mission to safeguard our communities from the violence and instability caused by transnational criminal organizations.”
“By following this offender’s digital trail, Homeland Security Investigations and our law enforcement partners nationwide executed federal search warrants, dismantled an active dark web fentanyl packaging operation and recovered deadly amounts of fentanyl, thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, and a trove of electronic devices and packaging materials,” said HSI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas. “This case is a powerful example of how coordinated, data-driven investigations can disrupt dangerous networks and help protect our communities from lethal synthetic opioids.”
According to court documents, from November 2023 through June 2024, Eager and his co-conspirator sold fentanyl on the Dark Net and Telegram. Eager operated as the vendor WRSEH10 and marketed the fentanyl as “China White Synthetic Heroin.”
In June 2024, HSI agents executed search warrants on two residences associated with Eager in Kearny, New Jersey, and seized over 360 grams of powdered fentanyl, counterfeit M30 pills, drug ledgers, cellular phones, two computers, and drug packaging consistent with three deliveries that were sent to Oregon.
On September 4, 2024, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a four-count indictment charging Eager with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl.
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On February 4, 2026, Eager pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
HSI Portland and HSI Houston investigated this case with assistance from HSI Newark, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Interdiction Task Force (HIT). Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey assisted the U.S. Attorney’s in Oregon in obtaining the search warrants that were executed in Kearny.
