Emily Girsch at KATU-TV in Portland reports that for the first time in Oregon History, Doctors have joined Nurses in a Health Care Strike.  Union Officials say 5,000 Providence Medical Group Nurses and 150 Doctors walked off the job Friday (January 10th) morning.  The Providence Medical Group has hired 2,000 replacement Nurses, but Hospital Officials say Doctors have been harder to replace.  Providence Officials say it's unprecedented for Physicians to Strike and it’s also unprecedented for the Strike to have no end date.  Nurses have walked out of all eight of Providence’s Hospitals. Providence St. Vincent Physician Dr. Benjamin Babb said he’s striking over staffing ratios: “We Unionized primarily just because we were concerned about seeing the numbers of patients that we were seeing creeping up and not having enough time to spend with them and making sure that we were providing quality care.”  The Oregon Nurses Association and Providence have been trying to reach an agreement for more than a year on new contracts. The dispute is over staffing and wages.  During a June Strike, the Union accused Providence of violating an Oregon Law that sets minimum Nurse to Patient Staffing Ratios. Some Providence Nurses say the ratios have gotten worse since then.

For More On This Labor News Report, Go To: Thousands of Oregon doctors, nurses begin largest health care strike in state history And Oregon Nurses Association

Photo Courtesy Of The Oregon Nurses Association's Facebook Page.