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How bad are wages for some jobs in health care? A notice posted at Hillsboro Medical Center offers a clue. The hospital recently opened an “employee pantry” in its basement for “all staff who find themselves in need.”
The notice invites employees to donate food or money to keep the pantry stocked. “The ongoing success of our employee pantry will be a collaborative effort and will need the ongoing support from any employee who is able.”
Oregon Health & Science University has managed clinical operations at Hillsboro Medical Center since 2016 through a management company called OHSU Partners. On its website, OHSU says Hillsboro Medical Center is “part of the OHSU Health system, significantly expanding the Portland-area locations where Oregonians can connect with Oregon’s only academic health center.”
Low pay is sore spot for OHSU. Nurses there bargained for months—and voted to authorize a strike—before signing a new three-year contract in October.
Before that, university president Danny Jacobs came under fire from unionized workers for awarding $12.5 million in bonuses to 2,000 nonunion workers, including top executives. In the end, the bigwigs didn’t get the bonuses, but everyone else did.
The agreement with Hillsboro Medical Center means OHSU clinicians provide services there, but the center runs its own operations in terms of leadership and employment, an OHSU spokeswoman said.
Hillsboro Medical Center didn’t return an email seeking comment.