This article has been updated.
Employees at Multnomah County’s jails have asked elected officials to remove top corrections health managers in light of a union vote of no confidence.
In an April 25 letter to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners sent on Oregon Nurses Association letterhead, corrections nurses and other health employees wrote that they’d shared several concerns with management with no effect, and “we no longer have any confidence in select members” of management.
They called on the board to “investigate the problem areas in Corrections Health and partner with us to provide a safe place for some of the most vulnerable and marginalized members of our community. We demand the County to fulfill our demands by Thursday, May 9th.”
In response, Chair Jessica Vega Pederson issued a statement by email. “I am very concerned about these allegations and have asked to meet directly with ONA representatives several times since receiving an initial communication on April 9 that did not include the concerns outlined in today’s letter. So far they have declined to meet with me. We very much need ONA to follow up and come to the table to meet with us so we can understand and address their concerns.”
She added, “The health and wellbeing of employees and the people they provide healthcare for in custody are a priority ... I have worked with the Health Department to increase staffing, security and recruitment. We’ve made progress, with 14 new hires and the rehire of 15 on-call nurses. The Health Department has partnered with several staffing agencies to augment the full-time/permanent staff with Agency nurses and other temporary support staff in key roles while we seek to hire permanent staff.”
The vote of no-confidence won support of more than 97% of those who participated in the vote, as first reported by Willamette Week.
The letter cites low staffing , poor morale, unsafe working conditions, excessive mandatory overtime and a surge of deaths of people in custody.
It also cites an outside study conducted in January that reported “serious healthcare and operational issues…that do not comport with constitutional standards, accreditation standards, and professional practice standards.”
For years, Multnomah jails have been awash in meth, fentanyl and other drugs smuggled from the outside, contributing to addiction and overdose deaths while in custody. Last year management announced new steps to address the problem after a spate of deaths.
In December, two sheriff’s deputies were charged with official misconduct in connection with two of the deaths.
