We are writing on behalf of the workers at Legacy hospitals who work hard every day to deliver great patient care to you and your family. We keep your rooms clean and infection-free, check you in at registration, help you out of bed and to the bathroom, deliver things across the hospital, and do countless other essential tasks.
We have decades of combined experience working for Legacy. While we love our jobs and are proud of being part of the team that makes the hospital run, we have never felt like we were treated as part of the team by Legacy leadership.
After the proposed merger with OHSU was announced last year, we and our co-workers were concerned about our future. We asked Legacy to sit down and talk, but they didn’t even respond to our requests. We really felt hung out to dry. But while Legacy ignored us, OHSU sat down and put commitments on paper. These include putting $1 million a year into needed workforce training, paying for long overdue facility upgrades, hiring more frontline staff, and committing to pay parity between Legacy and OHSU staff with collective bargaining agreements. Already, OHSU has been more upfront with us than Legacy leadership ever has been, and they really listened to the things that mattered to us.
Being clear with employees about job security, pay, and benefits goes a long way to building a trusting relationship and to keeping trained workers. When we see an employer caring about us, it makes a difference -- not only for employees, but for our patients too. When experienced workers stay at the hospital, we are able to deliver better quality care to our patients. We’re not saying everything will be perfect. We know that big changes like this are never easy, but we believe Legacy’s workers and patients will be better off under OHSU’s leadership. It’s time for change and this merger will be a huge step in the right direction.
Mindy Palmer is a housekeeper at Randall Children’s Hospital's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and has been employed by Legacy for four years. Sunita Patel has been a housekeeper at Randall Children’s Hospital in Day Surgery and has been employed by Legacy for 20 years. Steven Wong is a Certified Nursing Assistant in Surgical Specialties at Legacy Good Samaritan and has been employed by Legacy for 10 years.
