Safe Staffing Saves Lives: News

News Banner

HB 2697 Has Passed in Both The House And The Senate!

As of June 22, Oregon House Bill 2697 has passed both the House and the Senate! We have had a wild ride to get to this point: months of negotiations with hospitals and legislators, then our powerful House hearing in February, and next a six-week Senate Republican walkout denying quorum to pass bills… and not to mention the years of mistreatment of nurses and allied health care workers by hospitals that brought us to this point.

We believe HB 2697 is vital to fixing Oregon’s collapsing healthcare system. It will put numerical minimum safe staffing ratios for nurses and CNAs to patients in hospital settings by unit; expand the staffing committee structure to service, technical, and professional allied health care workers; and require the state to enforce the staffing law – including for missed meal and rest breaks. Hospitals must comply with the nurse-to-patient ratios on June 1, 2024, and the new staffing committees must be set up on or before December 31, 2024. Increased mandatory state enforcement begins June 1, 2025.

Thank you to those of you who showed up to provide testimony, meet with legislators, post on your social media, and tell your coworkers about the bill to get us across the finish line! We are also grateful to our labor partners, legislators, and other stakeholders for supporting our efforts.

But the work is just beginning: this fall, ONA will engage in rulemaking with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to guide them in implementing some of the most complex elements of the bill. And, between now and when the ratios and new committees of HB 2697 take effect next year, we will be training our staffing committee members to transition towards implementing those provisions of the bill into staffing plans. Once the bill takes effect, we know that some hospitals will still try to skirt the staffing law, so we will all be accountable for filing timely complaints to the Oregon Health Authority and ensuring that the agency enforces the law.

For today, congratulations to Oregon’s nurses and allied healthcare workers! We are optimistic that Oregonians who work in hospitals and who are patients will see better outcomes.

For more details on the specifics of the bill, you can reference the amended bill walkthrough.

News Articles on Staffing and Crisis