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OHSU Fined Over $1.5 Million for Oregon Staffing Law Violations, More Than Any Other Hospital
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Willamette Week
Oregon’s hospital staffing law requires hospital management to abide by staffing plans produced jointly with workers.
The law gets enforced when workers—say, a nurse or a respiratory therapist—tell the state that their employer didn’t make or follow the plan.
A spokesperson notes the complexity of the staffing requirements, and says the institution is working “in earnest” to get staffing plans approved.
Hospital leaders have complained that the Oregon Health Authority is enforcing the law unfairly—different than they envisioned it as members of the coalition that created the legislation.
A spokesperson for a major OHSU union, AFSCME, says that “a clear pattern has emerged: OHSU would rather pay fines than adhere to sufficient staffing committee staffing plans.”