Nurses set “informational picket”
A second meeting with area nurses, PeaceHealth officials, and a federal mediator failed to produce a contract settlement last week. That means nurses at Peace Harbor Medical Center will be picketing in Florence today.
75 nurses, represented by the Oregon Nurses Association, have been negotiating with management since last fall. Their contract expired in December and was extended into January. They’ve been working without a contract since January 31st.
Nurses and supporters will be demonstrating at the intersection of Highways 101 and 126 today from eight am to two this afternoon. Sandy Fleetwood said local nurses are proud of where they work and the care they provide. That’s one reason, the surgical services nurse says, they’re calling on PeaceHealth to work with nurses to make sure they “can provide award-winning health care in Florence both now and in the future. Kevin Mealey, a spokesman for the nurses association says the primary concerns revolve around “on-call requirements”, below market wages, improving staff and patient safety, and increasing provider recruitment and retention.
PeaceHealth’s lead negotiator was not available for comment.
Coast Guard Rescue
The Coast Guard was called into action to help rescue an injured hiker on the Neptune State Scenic Viewpoint near Yachats on Saturday. Responding to a 911 call, the Coast Guard Sector in North Bend, initiated a helicopter rescue from the air facility in Newport. Difficult terrain and the severity of the injury to the hiker made a ground rescue attempt difficult. Clear skies and light winds assisted in making the extraction routine. More information on the hiker or his injuries was not immediately available.
Library Receives Assistance From Local Club
The staff member who oversees the Siuslaw High School was was recently approached by a member of the Florence Area Democatic Club with an offer. The group wanted to buy new books for the school, but what titles should they buy? Hope Sneddon said the most recent additions have been more popular and newer titles, so she instantly thought about things like the Odyssey, the Illead, Moby Dick, Treasure Island and the like.
210 — “The classics have been on the shelf for quite a long time and they’re falling apart. So I thought this was a great opportunity to get them replaced. So I gave her a list and within 48 hours she had half of them.”
The other half came over the space of the next few days. Most of the titles were new Sneddon said, but some came from the personal libraries of Democratic Club Members. Even though they weren’t brand new, they were still in impeccable condition. Students will now have clean copies of the “classics” and, added the library assistant, the school saved anywhere between $400 and $600.
Volunteers Sought for Tsunami Drill
A Tsunami drill with the intent of determining how people will actually respond in a real emergency will be conducted by Oregon State University in association with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. OSU is developing computer models that show how people’s decisions during such an event can affect their ability to survive it. The Evacuation Drill will be conducted at South Beach State Park, just south of Newport at 10am on Thursday May 11th. They are currently looking for about 100 volunteers to participate. Organizers are preparing for what they say will be a massive earthquake within the next 50 years.
