A union representing health care workers at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett reached a tentative agreement with the hospital Wednesday.
UFCW 21 professional and technical units at Providence Everett says it agreed on a new contract after months of negotiations.
In November, the three unions representing Providence health care workers – UFCW 21, SEIU 1199NW, and the Washington State Nurses Association – authorized a strike. The group paused their strike notice Friday to expedite bargaining with Providence management.
The Providence Everett agreement came several hours after UFCW 21’s service and maintenance workers reached an agreement with Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. The Washington State Nurse's Association also reached a tentative agreement with Sacred Heart on Tuesday.
However, health care workers with SEIU 1199NW were still in contract negotiations Wednesday with Swedish Medical Center, whose parent company is Providence Health.
Health care workers have claimed Providence Health cares more about profits than patient safety. At Swedish, workers say patient care problems due to severe understaffing have worsened since Swedish was taken over by Providence.