HB 2697 Has Officially Become Law!

As of July 31, Oregon House Bill 2697 has become Oregon law! 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.

Read about what the bill does here. 

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.

Why Did We Fight For This Law?

1. Because corporate greed is pushing nurses and health care workers out of our profession in record numbers.  

You’ve probably heard that our hospitals are dangerously short-staffed. For the nurses and other health professionals who care for you when you’re sick, that means:

• We’re to forced to pick up extra shifts and work longer hours
• Managers assign unmanageable and unsafe numbers of patients
• We leave work feeling exhausted physically and emotionally drained because we couldn’t deliver the level of care you deserve 

The stress and heartbreak is too much. In 2022, 27.1% of active nurses have quit. More than a third of those who remain say it is very likely they will quit their job this year.

Here’s the truth: there’s not a shortage of nurses. There’s a shortage of nurses who are willing and able to work under these  conditions. 

2. CEOs and corporate greed created the problem 

Oregon had a staffing nurse turnover problem long before the pandemic. As huge chains swallowed local hospitals, executives cut staffing to cut costs, then gave themselves big bonuses and sank profits into the stock market. Simply put, they put profits and Wall Street investments ahead of nurses, healthcare workers and patients. 

3. COVID turned a problem into a crisis.  

From the moment COVID reached Oregon, we put our lives on the line to care for the sick patients who flooded our hospitals. 

While administrators often worked from the comfort and safety of home, nurses did our best in overflowing ERs and ICUs. Instead of improving working conditions, management threw pizza parties. 

After nearly three years of constant pressure, trauma and grief, countless healthcare workers simply could not continue. Our colleagues left the bedside in search of safer working conditions, better pay and more respect. 

4. Management has had years to act, but they refuse to solve this problem.

Years of research has proven that Safe Staffing Saves Lives.

Today, we need staffing to save our entire healthcare system from collapse.

By putting real safe staffing standards into law, Oregon can create safer workplaces and provide nurses the conditions to give every patient the care you deserve. Studies show that when minimum staffing rules are in place, nurses are happier, healthier and stay in their jobs longer. As we improve conditions, many who have left the field may return, creating an influx of experienced workers that directly addresses the “nursing shortage.”

Passing safe staffing standards is one of the most powerful steps we can take to address Oregon’s worsening hospital staffing crisis and prevent a complete collapse of our state’s healthcare system. We look forward to the relief this new law will bring.