The votes — which concluded Feb. 5 for Randall Children’s and Legacy Emanuel, and Feb. 6 for Good Samaritan — cover roughly 2,300 nurses at the three facilities, according to a union news release shared with Becker’s. There are approximately 599 nurses at Randall Children’s, 1,095 nurses at Emanuel and 596 nurses at Good Samaritan.
“This victory is about nurses standing together for the future of our profession, our patients and our hospitals,” Sarah Zavala, RN, said in the release. “We’re ready to build a strong contract that protects and empowers nurses so we can continue to provide the best care possible.”
Legacy Health shared the following statement with Becker’s:
“Legacy Health respects the rights of our employees to choose whether or not to be represented by a union, and we appreciate the continued hard work of our nurses, who support our mission to deliver high-quality care to our patients. We are committed to establishing a productive dialogue with the union representatives that will be working with Legacy on behalf of our employees.”
The unionization votes come months after Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University notified the Oregon Health Authority of detailed plans to merge with Legacy Health. The systems are expected to finalize the deal by spring 2025.
