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Prosper Portland, the city of Portland’s economic and urban development agency, has expanded its Small Business Stabilization Restore Grant Program to offer assistance for small businesses impacted by the January 2024 ice storm.

The agency is offering reimbursements of up to $25,000, covering a number of different ways the storm impacted businesses. In their application, business owners can cite up to $10,000 of revenue loss for businesses closed between January 12 and January 20, interior or exterior repairs due to the winter storm, costs associated with inventory loss, and/or up to $5,000 worth of equipment replacement. Businesses must meet specific criteria to apply: They have to be located within Portland city limits, with at least three employees and a gross revenue of up to $3 million in 2019. The deadline to apply is Thursday, February 29.

The relief comes a couple of weeks after Portland city officials, including City Commissioner (and mayoral candidate) Carmen Rubio, worked with Prosper Portland and the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management to gather data from business owners dealing with repairs, debts, and potential closure as a result of the storm. “After meeting with members of the IRAO, Mayor Wheeler, Commissioner Rubio and Prosper Director Branam took swift action,” reads an Instagram post from the Independent Restaurant Alliance of Oregon (IRAO). “We are grateful for their commitment to supporting our culinary and small business community.”

IRAO previously sent a letter to Governor Tina Kotek and other city, county, and state officials seeking financial relief. The organization also conducted a survey of businesses and food service workers, in which respondents reported average financial losses between $30,000 and $75,000, and lost income of $1,500, respectively.

On February 8, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) declared the January 2024 storm a disaster after receiving a request from Governor Kotek. The declaration unlocked federal funding, enabling small business owners in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, and 15 other Oregon counties to apply for a disaster assistance loan, as an alternative to the grant program.

Eligibility is based solely on the financial impact of the disaster — including fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills — and not on property damage. The loans are “restricted to small businesses without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship.” Interest will begin to accrue at a rate of four percent 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The deadline for those applications is November 8, 2024.

KGW Meteorologist Rod Hill has been doing his Winter Outlook for more than 20 years. Here's what he's forecasting for snow in Portland and on Mount Hood this winter.

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PORTLAND, Ore. — This winter's outlook is centered on the high-confidence projection from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that El Niño conditions will continue through March of 2024.

The most recent El Niño, back in 2015-2016, brought the wettest month on record for Portland, leading to flooding and one of the strongest tornadoes on record in Washington. Most of the time, however, El Niño winters, especially in the Pacific Northwest, are mild and dry.

What does that mean for this winter's weather? It looks to be a mild winter with higher-than-normal temperatures, very little snow in Portland and on the valley floor (as little as zero to three inches), a decent chance of a freezing rain storm, an elevated chance of high-wind episodes, below-average snow totals at Mount Hood and the chance of a slow start to the ski season through the holidays.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

How I did with my winter outlook last year: Before we go any further, here's a recap of my winter outlook from last year. The most significant call was the projection for big snowstorms to take place in mid- to late-February.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

El Niño winters in the PNW are usually mild and dry: As mentioned, an El Niño winter is likely this winter. The typical El Niño flow pattern leads to an active, wet southern jet stream flow, bringing heavy rains to California and much of the southeastern United States. The northern jet stream tends to bring dry and mild ridging over the Pacific Northwest, while ushering cold Canadian air across the Great Lakes and Northeast.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

A moderate El Niño? A combination or spaghetti chart of weather models show equatorial water temperatures that define the El Niño cycle projected at 1.0 to 1.4 degrees Celsius above normal, defining a moderate event.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

It looks like a mild winter: Here are my conclusions for the upcoming winter, leaning heavily on the comparison winters of 2002-2003, 2009-2010 and 2015-2016. Notice the winter or rainy season months of November to March show 13 of 15 months having above-normal mean temperatures. A mild winter is my highest confidence projection for this winter.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

Little snow in the valley, but maybe an ice storm? My second forecast conclusion shows little Portland snow or zero to 3 inches of total valley floor snowfall. It is interesting to note that my research shows a better chance of freezing rain this winter than snow. Could we be in for an ice storm?

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

Precipitation totals are tough to call: Bulletin point three is my conclusion that data from past comparative El Niño years do not support the ability to project precipitation totals. Meaning I cannot make a call for a dry, wet or normal winter.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

A bit of gusty wind: Finally, a fourth point shows an elevated chance for several south wind events with gusty winds in the valley reaching 50-60 mph. Nothing unusual here, simply an expected two to three south wind alert days.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

A dry winter is more likely than a wet one: Although I mentioned a no-confidence call to project total precipitation, El Niño winters are historically more dry than wet in terms of total statistics. There is always concern of an alarmingly dry season. Notice four of the five driest water years on record since 1950 are El Niño seasons.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

Expect a warm December: Here is my Winter Outlook for 2023-2024: A mild winter with December being the warmest month in terms of positive anomaly to climate average. A warm December would likely lead to higher-than-normal snow level in the Cascades and bring a near zero chance of low-level snow.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

Little to no snow on the valley floor: As mentioned, no confidence to predict precipitation totals, but little to snow is expected. Data does support a decent chance to see a freezing rain event.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

Below-normal snowpack in the mountains: Mount Hood snowpack is typically below normal in El Niño winters. Snow levels can reach 5,000 to 6,000 feet or higher more often than a so-called typical winter, meaning more high-elevation rain than better ski seasons would experience.

Credit: Rod Hill, KGW

A slow start to the ski season? Mount Hood snowpack projection for this coming season is 74% of average. There is concern that ski season could get off to a slow start with less-than-ideal snowfall through the holiday season. Keep in mind the timing and quality of snow are often better indicators of a good recreation year than the amount measured in the snowpack come May 1 when the season ends.

Rose Garden

More than 10,000 individual rose bushes bloom in the International Rose Test Garden (IRTG) from late May through October, representing over 610 different rose varieties. The majority of roses in the Garden are commercially available. About 10 to 20 varieties are replaced each year with some of the best new roses released onto the market. Roses bloom from late May to October depending on the weather.

The primary purpose of the Garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. In the beginning, while World War I was raging, hybridists sent roses from around the world to Portland’s garden for testing.

Winter Pruning

The roses will be pruned down to waist height and put to bed for the winter November 1st and 2nd. Fall pruning will help to avoid damage during fall and winter storms, it also offers an excellent dormant season aesthetic. Though there will be few flowers, the garden is still worth a visit.

If interested to volunteer in the future, please call 503-823-5121

Tips For a Safe Park Visit

Car prowls occur throughout the City of Portland including within Washington Park. Please see Tips For a Safe Park visit to learn more how you can help reduce the chance of your vehicle becoming a target.

Remove valuables from your vehicle:

Getting Here

Plan your visit with parking, transit, and shuttle information from Explore Washington Park.

Pay to Park is in effect in Washington Park. When parking, use the Parking Kitty appor website.

Brochures with Maps

Download PDF fileInternational Rose Test Garden (English)2.56 MB

Download PDF fileEl Jardín Internacional de Pruebas de Rosas en Washington Park (Español)2.27 MB

Download PDF fileワシントン・パーク 国際バラ試験園 (日本語)2.6 MB

Tour Groups

Guided tours for groups of are available seasonally starting in the spring, for a nominal fee per person. Contact ParksCommercialUse@portlandoregon.gov to make arrangements. Please allow four weeks for planning. Memorial Day through Labor day individuals, families and small groups can take a daily tour at 1 pm which meets at the Rose Garden Store. Visit the Rose Garden Store website.

Volunteering

Volunteer opportunities are available in both garden and non-garden work. Garden tasks include deadheading, planting, pruning, sign painting, and garden improvement projects. Non-garden tasks include strategic planning, fundraising, updating educational materials, leading garden tours, maintaining inventory records, and coordinating volunteer efforts. Contact the Rose Garden at 503-823-3636 or Volunteer Services at 503-823-5121.

Portland Rose Society

Founded in 1889, the Portland Rose Society is a nonprofit organization offering educational programs on rose culture and encouraging the use of roses in the landscape. For information on Rose Society programs or membership, write or call Portland Rose Society, PO Box 515, Portland, 97207, voice mail: 503-777-4311.

Test Garden Status

The American Garden Rose Selections (AGRS) has replaced All American Rose Selections (AARS). 2013 was our inaugural season. AGRS has eleven test sites nationally:

Other independent rose testing ongoing at IRTG:

ADA Improvements

The Washington Park International Rose Test Garden celebrated its Centennial anniversary in 2017. With funding from the Parks Replacement Bond, this project removed ADA accessibility barriers from the main promenade within the Rose Garden and improved the connection to the parking lot, so that all Portland residents and visitors can equally enjoy this space for the next 100 years. Read more about these improvements on our Parks Replacement Bond page.

Accessible parking is located on SW Rose Garden Way and SW Kingston Ave. Visitors may park in these spaces and follow signs to the ramp access into the garden. Note that parking is very limited in Washington Park on sunny weekends and most days during the summer months. The Washington Park free shuttle is fully accessible and connects to the Washington Park TriMet MAX Station and various parking areas in Washington Park. Learn more at Explore Washington Park.

Leaflet

Year acquired

1917

Size in acres

6.90

History

Size in acres includes amphitheater.

Portland has long had a love affair with roses. In 1888, Georgiana Burton Pittock, wife of publisher Henry Pittock, invited her friends and neighbors to exhibit their roses in a tent set up in her garden; thus the Portland Rose Society was established.

Madame Caroline Testout was a late 19th-century French dressmaker from Grenoble, the proprietor of fashionable salons in London and Paris. She regularly purchased silks from Lyon, which was an important center for rose breeding. The nurseryman Joseph Pernet-Ducher was called 'The Wizard of Lyon' due to his success in developing hybrid tea roses. Madame Testout was an astute businesswoman and understood the value of good publicity. She asked Perner-Ducher to name one of his new roses after her. He agreed but considered her choice of seedling to be mediocre. The 'Madame Caroline Testout' rose made its debut at the salon's 1890 spring fashion show. It was not strong on scent, but became an immediate success with Madame Testout's well-to-do customers as well as the gardening public for its abundant silky, rose-pink flowers. The new variety's popularity spread to America, and in Portland, nearly half a million bushes of 'Caroline Testout' were planted along the sidewalks. By 1905 Portland had 200 miles of rose-bordered streets which helped attract visitors to the Lewis and Clark Centennial celebration. Portland came to be known as the 'City of Roses'.

In 1915 Jesse A. Currey, rose hobbyist and Sunday editor of the Oregon Journal, convinced city officials to institute a rose test garden to serve as a safe haven during World War I for hybrid roses grown in Europe. Rose lovers feared that these unique plants would be destroyed in the bombings. The Park Bureau approved the idea in 1917 and by early 1918, hybridists from England began to send roses. In 1921 Florence Holmes Gerke, the landscape architect for the city of Portland was charged with designing the International Rose Test Garden and the amphitheater. The garden was dedicated in June 1924. Currey was appointed as the garden's first rose curator and served in that capacity until his death in 1927.

Part of the original design, the Royal Rosarian Garden is home to the namesake roses of all past Prime Ministers of the Royal Rosarians, a civic group that serves as the official greeters and goodwill ambassadors for the City of Portland. Founded in 1912, the Order of Royal Rosarians modeled their mythical 'Realm of Rosaria' after the government of England’s King Henry VII, whose rise to the throne in 1485 ended the War of the Roses. Members are 'knighted' into the organization under their chosen variety of rose, which is then their 'namesake' rose. The garden also features a stone bench honoring Jesse Currey.

In 1945, the Shakespeare Garden, located at Crystal Springs Lake in southeast Portland, was moved to Washington Park to allow for the expansion of Eastmoreland Golf Course. Designed by Glenn Stanton and Florence Gerke, it was originally intended to include only herbs, trees, and flowers mentioned in William Shakespeare's plays. The garden continues to honor the Bard with roses named after characters in his plays. The focal point of the garden is the Shakespeare Memorial, a brick wall with a plaque featuring Shakespeare’s image and his quote, "Of all flowers methinks a rose is best." Donated by the LaBarre Shakespeare Club, it was dedicated on April 23, 1946 - the 382nd anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. In 1957 the club added a sundial to the garden.

In 1967, rose curator Rudolph Kalmbach wanted to establish a formal garden featuring Gold Award roses. (In 1919 the City of Portland issued its first annual Gold Award for the best new rose variety.) With the support of the Portland Rose Society, Wallace Kay Huntington was selected to design the garden which was dedicated in June 1970. In 1991, the Portland Rose Society donated the pavilion which overlooks these award-winning roses.

Established in 1975, the Miniature Rose Garden is one of only six testing grounds for the American Rose Society (ARS) miniature rose test program. The national annual winners from both ARS and AARS associations are displayed in the middle of the garden along the center aisle.

Set in a sunken section on the upper level of the garden, the Frank Beach Memorial Fountain was dedicated in June 1975. The stainless steel sculpture, titled Water Sculpture, was designed and built by Oregon artist Lee Kelly. The fountain was a gift from the Beach family to honor their father, Frank Edwin Beach (1853-1934), the man who is said to have christened Portland the 'City of Roses' and who first proposed the annual Rose Festival.

Awards The award called Portland’s Best Rose was established in 1996. Rose experts from around the world attend a one-day judging in June and select the best rose that day from thousands of submissions. Portland remains the only North American city to issue such an award. In 2006, the International Rose Test Garden received The Garden of Excellence Award from the World Federation of Rose Societies.

In 2017, the Garden’s Centennial anniversary, a construction project funded by the 2014 Parks Replacement Bond removed ADA accessibility barriers from the main promenade within the Rose Garden and improved connections to the parking lot.

Accessibility Notes

Special Note on Parking Parking for cars is very limited in Washington Park, especially during warm, sunny weekends. About 40% of all visitors skip the parking and arrive by rideshare, walking, biking or using TriMet transit service. Once you’re in the park, use the free seasonal shuttle to explore the park.

From sale speculations to the realities of life without Damian Lillard, the future of the Portland Trail Blazers is a hot topic. Next week, Portland City Council will address one unknown: the fate of the soon-expiring lease at the Moda Center.

The proposed five-year lease extension with the city, which owns the land the Moda Center occupies, illuminates challenges the team’s management have faced in trying to finance major renovations to the 29-year-old arena and offers a short-term promise to keep the team in Portland.

“This keeps the Blazers playing in Portland until at least 2030,” said Karl Lisle, the city’s facilities program coordinator. “We don’t want a team that is actively looking to relocate. It’s a win for the city to secure the team for those extra five years.”

The team also considers the proposed agreement a win. That’s mostly due to changes in how the Moda Center can recoup city dollars to jump-start renovations at the aging arena.

Since the Moda Center opened in 1995, the venue has poured an estimated $150 million into the city’s Spectator Venues and Visitor Activities Fund, a pot of money made up of venue ticket taxes and parking fees from Providence Park, the Moda Center, and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The city largely uses that money to pay off debt for projects at other city-owned venues. The Moda Center is owned by Rip City Management, a private company, and receives none of the revenue from the spectator venues fund. This is a condition of Rip City Management’s 30-year lease with the city, which expires in October 2025.

“That was part of the deal,” said Dewayne Hankins, the Trail Blazers president of business operations. “But that was something we wanted to see change. We are just, in this deal, getting what the Blazers are generating to be put back in the building.”

The proposed lease extension is between Rip City Management and the city of Portland. The Trail Blazers and Rip City Management are both owned by the estate of late billionaire Paul Allen, which is overseen by his sister Jody Allen.

Hankins characterized the unique five-year lease extension as a demonstration of Allen’s commitment to keeping the Trail Blazers in Portland.

“Jody’s goal from the start was keeping the team here long term,” he said. “And that is woven throughout the [agreement]. It’s been unequivocal.”

The extension, called a “bridge extension,” is nonbinding. According to Lisle, it acts as a green light for the city and team to work toward finalizing a deal by the summer. The proposal comes with the ability to be renewed for another five-year term after 2030. But both Hankins and Lisle say the goal is to hammer out a much longer-term lease by that point.

The proposed agreement requires Portland to allow Rip City Management to hold onto all ticket surcharges and parking fees generated at city-owned garages during Blazers home games for “the sole purpose” of paying for Moda Center renovations and other construction projects, instead of into the city’s spectator venues fund. The city estimates it collects between $4 million and $6 million annually in fees at Blazers games.

Revenue from the Moda Center taxes and fees make up about 75% of the city’s annual spectator venues fund revenue. Lisle said that about half of those funds come from Blazers games. The fund, which generated just under $10 million for the city last year, helps pay for maintenance and past renovations at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Providence Park, where the Portland Timbers and Thorns play.

Lisle said the soccer clubs and other venue maintenance won’t be impacted by subtracting revenue collected from Blazers games.

“Impacting that fund, that was a fundamental question with the city’s comfort level about this deal,” he said. “But we are confident that it’s not going to inhibit the ability to meet ongoing obligations out of that fund.”

Per the proposed deal, the fees and taxes from Blazers home games would never account for more than 50% of the Moda Center’s annual capital construction expenses.

Hankins said the Moda Center is overdue for renovations, ranging from a new scoreboard to upgraded seating sections to an exterior lobby. In previous interviews, Hankins has said he wanted the arena to undergo major renovation by 2030, when the space is slated to host the NCAA Women’s Final Four tournament. That won’t be possible under this lease extension.

That’s because the Blazers — and the city — don’t have the kind of money available to cover these big costs. Hankins said the extension will allow the team time to seek additional funding from public entities, like Multnomah County, the Metro regional government or the state.

The lease extension includes other proposals that could trim costs for Rip City Management. That includes handing ownership of the Moda Center over to the city, a move that will relieve Rip City Management from paying hefty property taxes on the building (city records show the company paid $208,000 in property taxes for the arena in 2023). Hankins said this transfer may also make it easier to attract outside funding from other government agencies for renovations, since public bonds and other funds aren’t allowed to go toward privately-owned buildings.

The deal also mentions an agreement with the city to examine whether the swath of land surrounding and encompassing the Moda Center — long referred to as the Rose Quarter — could qualify for Tax Increment Financing. This is a funding tool that allows the city to freeze taxes in a certain geographic area over a period of time and use the increase in property values in that area to reinvest in the district, a tool commonly known as urban renewal.

Hankins said this could help turn the Rose Quarter into the entertainment and community hub that’s been a discussion point for decades but never materialized. He sees this plan in relation to a recent proposal from Albina Vision Trust to turn land currently owned by Portland Public Schools — which neighbors the Rose Quarter — into affordable housing and investments in the 1803 Fund to fund community programs for Black Portlanders in nearby neighborhoods.

“They have this goal of revitalizing a neighborhood that was torn apart by urban renewal,” he said. “We have this desire to make this a hopping place 365 days a year. Our goals are really, really aligned.”

Mayor Ted Wheeler, who participated in negotiating the lease extension, shared a similar outlook on the agreement.

“This bridge agreement helps us maintain world-class sports and entertainment in our city while we plan for the future,” Wheeler said in a statement. “In addition to its significant economic contributions, the Rose Quarter is a major cultural center, gathering place, and key component of our identity and civic pride. I am excited about the possibility of continuing to enhance and grow this tremendous community asset in partnership with the Blazers organization.”

The agreement doesn’t prohibit the Blazers from leaving Portland at the end of the lease. But it could come with a cost: The proposal requires that the team return all the fees and taxes recouped from the city’s spectator venues fund back to the city if the team leaves in 2030.

“It’s kind of a good faith thing to make sure people knew that we were committed to keeping the team here,” said Hankins.

If the proposal is approved by City Council Wednesday, the city and Blazers will begin cobbling together a final lease extension. Per the draft proposal, the final draft will be submitted by August.

Providence confirms it’s pulling part of its offer in response to the strike

As of 5 a.m. Monday, more than 1,300 nurses from Providence Portland Medical Center have gone on strike. Another several hundred nurses from Providence Seaside on the Oregon Coast, and a home health and hospice unit run by the Providence Health System joined them at 7 a.m.

Some nurses were asked to leave the Portland hospital at 4:30 a.m., according to the nurses union’s Twitter account. Just after 7 a.m., about 100 nurses stood in front of the hospital holding signs and cheering in response to supportive honks from morning commuters.

Maternity nurse Erin Anderson held a Taylor Swift-inspired sign that said “Providence, now we’ve got bad blood.”

“I’m on the picket line because I think we’re very undervalued and the hospital just does not respect us enough to give us a good and fair contract for how much we’ve sacrificed in the past couple years,” Anderson said.

Another sign read, “I’d rather be nursing, but this is important.” And a third: “Do better, Providence.”

Nurses on the picket line Monday morning complained that the hospital has put profits ahead of both its patients and its staff. They told OPB they have to work with subpar equipment and that they don’t have enough sick leave and aren’t fairly paid.

Some also said they worried Providence intended to punish nurses for going on strike.

An email sent to nurses on June 8 and signed by Providence Portland’s chief nursing officer, Lori Green, states that the last offer made to nurses during bargaining was contingent on there being no work stoppage and on the contract being ratified by June 30.

“We were very clear in our communications to ONA that our economic proposals following a work stoppage will be very different and not nearly as lucrative as the package they walked away from,” reads the email, which was shared with OPB by two sources. ONA is the Oregon Nurses Association, the union representing Providence’s striking staff.

Nurses on the picket line told OPB they were worried Providence was willing to “crush” nurses to prove that strikes aren’t effective at improving working conditions and wages.

Late Monday, Providence spokesman Gary Walker confirmed that Green’s email was accurate.

Walker said three elements of Providence’s final offer were contingent on nurses not striking: retroactive pay, a ratification bonus of $2,500, and 30 additional hours of paid time off.

“The union was informed on repeated occasions that these contingent offers would no longer be available if the union chose to strike,” Walker said. “Providence Seaside Hospital and Providence Home Health and Providence Hospice also made similar offers contingent on ONA not striking.”

Jennifer Gentry, Providence’s chief nursing officer for the division that includes Oregon,said during a press conference on Monday that Providence supports its nurses’ right to strike. She said she did not know how much the five day strike is costing Providence.

Negotiations between the nurses, who are represented by the Oregon Nurses Association, and Providence, one of the state’s largest health systems, broke down in early June. When nurses declared their intention to strike earlier this month, Providence leaders canceled additional negotiating sessions and pivoted to preparing to run their services during the strike.

“We have focused, as I think is appropriate, on ensuring that we can continue to provide safe patient care while our nurses take care of that business,” Gentry said.

Providence Portland Medical Center had been able to reach its target census of about 300 patients on Monday, a 25% reduction from normal, according to Gentry. She said that after a brief transition period Monday morning when ambulances were diverted elsewhere the hospital was able to start accepting new patients in the emergency department again. Providence has hired temporary nurses to fill in while staff nurses are on strike this week.

“I hope they find what they need. I wish I could help them,” said Levi Cole, an ICU nurse picketing Monday morning. Cole, a 20-year veteran of Providence, said he feels no ill will toward the temporary nurses who have come from across the country to keep the hospital operating during the strike.

Cole joined the picket line at 5:30 a.m. dressed in a nun’s habit. He said he cast his vote to authorize a strike but never imagined it would happen.

“I didn’t think the hospital would hold its ground the way it did.” Cole said “I thought negotiations would lead us away from this. I really did.”

Cole, who worked last week, said the ICU had been emptied out in preparation for the strike. He said he felt sorry for the patients and his immediate supervisors, who were working inside the hospital on the other side of the picket line.

“This has a real effect on a lot of people in the community, and it’s not making us happy to have to do this,” he said.

Nurses at Providence Portland, Cole said, are asking to be brought up to the same level of pay, paid time off and benefits that their colleagues receive at other major medical centers in town.

In the days leading up to the strike, staff nurses – more than 90% of whom voted to strike – said they wanted respect, improved compensation and better working conditions.

More than 1,300 nurses from Providence Portland, 120 from Providence Seaside and about 400 home health and hospice nurses and other workers are on strike together. Each group has a separate work contract and distinct issues they are most focused on.

Providence reported that its latest offer to the nurses at Providence Portland Medical Center included an average wage increase of 12% in the first year of the contract, followed by 3% raises in the two following years, and an additional 10 hours of paid time off per year of the three-year contract.

The Oregon Nurses Association disputes some of these points. Members of the bargaining team say they are seeking a two-year contract instead of a three-year contract, a shift that would allow nurses at Providence Portland and Providence St. Vincent, the health systems’ two largest hospitals in the area, to bargain at the same time. They are also pushing for double pay for nurses who pick up shifts to help with short staffing, which they say would cost the hospital less than paying for travel nurses.

The union is also pushing for more paid time off than Providence has offered. That’s a personal priority for many nurses who are unhappy with a short-term disability insurance program that they now must use to access extended sick leave.

Providence says its last offer included up to eight weeks of fully paid disability leave.

New full-time nurses receive five weeks of paid time off each year, according to Walker, while full-time nurses with more experience receive more than seven weeks of paid time off per year. That PTO is though a single bank of hours for holidays, vacation and sick days.

But several parts of the last contract offer are off the table now that the nurses have chosen to strike, a Providence spokesperson said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley was out supporting the Portland nurses on Monday morning. His wife is a hospice nurse who has joined the strike.

Merkley said that he has seen, through his wife’s experience, how nurses’ frustration has reached a boiling point, first, as a wave of retiring baby boomers led to short staffing, and then as nurses cared for the sick and dying during the pandemic, often at personal risk, and with inadequate support from Providence.

“It takes an awful lot for nurses to strike. It really shows how strongly they feel that Providence has gone off track,” Merkley said. “Rather than complaining about paying travel nurses so much, why don’t we treat the people that we have better so that they want to stay with us?”

A disagreement over productivity targets is the most significant obstacle in the contract negotiations for the Providence Home Health and Hospice nurses, according to the union. Pay inequity between nurses working at the coast compared to their metro-area counterparts and disparities between earnings for hospital nurses and clinic nurses are critical sticking points for the Seaside nurses.

The nurses association urged patients to continue to seek medical care at Providence in a statement released Sunday night.

“Going into the hospital to get the care you need is NOT crossing our strike line,” the statement reads.

The two affected hospitals will continue to accept emergency patients. The strike is expected to last five days.