A group of 19 nurse case managers employed at all four of St. Charles Health System’s hospitals have joined the Oregon Nurses Association.

Their participation brings the total number of unionized nurses to 1,300, said Kevin Mealey, Oregon Nurses Association spokesman. The National Labor Relations Board certified the membership on Monday,, according to the union.

Rachel Geels, a nurse case manager at St. Charles Bend, said she and other nurses in her department were experiencing recruitment and retention issues and unmanageable work loads. The staffers felt that joining a union would give them a voice.

“We wanted a seat at the table to talk about how to do the job better and how to meet the needs of the community,” Geels said. “We were largely feeling that with our current status we were not able to meet the needs of the patients in the way we’d like to.”

Nurse case managers usually are not unionized, the union said in a prepared statement. Typically nurse case managers are registered nurses with many years of acute care experience, Geels said. They play a role in helping patients get a continuum of care with assessments and advocate for them.

“We wanted more say in how we do our job and how to make the job something we can recruit staff to and retain the staff in the roles,” Geels said. “That will result in improved collaboration, better ratios and working conditions so we can draw people to the job.”

The health system could not be reached for comment.

The next step is for the members to sit down with the health system and discuss areas of concern specific to their workflow, Geels said.

St. Charles settles with nurses, averts a strike in marathon negotiations

St. Charles settles with nurses, averts a strike in marathon negotiations

In June 2023, the 1,100 union members and the health system agreed on a three-year contract that called for wage hikes that put the health system among the top in Oregon for pay, ensured that nurses were given breaks and addressed recruitment and retention concerns.

The average wage of a nurse is now about $108,000 according to the health system.