St. Charles Family Care clinics now offering COVID-19 vaccine

BEND, Ore. – Starting today, Central Oregonians who are 12 and older—and who are already scheduled for an appointment with a provider—will have the option of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine at St. Charles’ Family Care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras and Prineville.

Starting May 24, most St. Charles Family Care clinics will begin scheduling appointments for COVID vaccines. Sisters and Redmond clinics will begin offering vaccinations on May 26, due to vaccine supply.

To schedule an appointment, call the location that works best for you:

Bend East Family Care Clinic
2600 Northeast Neff Road

Bend South Family Care Clinic
61250 Southeast Coombs Place

La Pine Family Care Clinic
51781 Huntington Road

Madras Family Care Clinic
480 Northeast A Street

Prineville Family Care Clinic
384 Southeast Combs Flat Road

Redmond Family Care Clinic
211 Northwest Larch Avenue

Sisters Family Care Clinic
630 North Arrowleaf Trail

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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St. Charles hires Matt Swafford as senior vice president and chief financial officer

BEND, Ore. – St. Charles Health System is pleased to announce that Matt Swafford has accepted the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer. Swafford – who has more than 30 years of experience in the finance field – will join St. Charles June 28. 

“I’m so excited to welcome Matt to St. Charles,” said Joe Sluka, president and CEO of the health system. “Matt has been a partner to us for many years in his current role with Melio & Company in Portland as a financial and strategic advisor and he knows our organization well. He will be a great addition to the team.” 

Swafford currently serves as partner and managing director for Melio & Company, an independent fiduciary advisor to nonprofit health care organizations throughout the nation. In this role, he has advised St. Charles, Asante, Oregon Health & Science University, Salem Health and others on strategic, financial and capital markets activities, including master facility plan funding, capital restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures. Before joining Melio & Company, Swafford served as an executive director in the public finance health care group for Morgan Stanley and as a first vice president in the public finance health care group for UBS.  

He holds a bachelor of music, arts administration degree from Northwestern University with an emphasis on management, organizational administration, finance and orchestral performance. 

Swafford was born and raised in Portland and has family throughout the state, including in Central Oregon. He is married to Jeanette, his wife of 20 years, and they have two teenage daughters. Swafford enjoys hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, paddle boarding and snowboarding.  

“I have worked closely with Matt for many years and can’t imagine a better person to transition into the St. Charles chief financial officer role,” said Jenn Welander, current senior vice president and chief financial officer for St. Charles. “He understands our business and will bring a really important strategic focus as St. Charles continues to transform the way it provides care to our communities.”  

Welander’s last day will be July 15, giving her a few weeks to introduce Swafford to the St. Charles team. She has built a detailed plan and is already working with the Finance team to prepare for the transition. 

“I am thrilled to join the St. Charles team at an exciting time of fundamental change,” Swafford said. “I admire the culture and financial credibility St. Charles has built over the past decade, and I am excited to collaborate with Joe and the entire team toward the vision of ‘Creating America’s healthiest community, together.’”

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

BEND, Ore. – St. Charles Health System patients have received phone calls from criminals identifying themselves as either St. Charles caregivers or Medicare officials in an effort to get valuable information like Medicare and Social Security numbers.

The caller ID may appear as a St. Charles number. Falsifying a caller ID number in this way is known as “spoofing,” and unfortunately, St. Charles cannot prevent this type of criminal activity.

The health system is asking the public to be cautious about ever giving medical or insurance information over the phone. Those who suspect a caller is falsely representing St. Charles should hang up and call their St. Charles provider’s office to find out if they need information.

Individuals who believe they have been a victim of any kind of phone scam should consider reporting it.

The Federal Trade Commission is the primary government agency that collects scam complaints and can be contacted one of two ways:

• Online: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
• By phone: 1-877-382-4357

To report suspected Medicare fraud, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). 

There are also two ways to report caller ID spoofing to the Federal Communications Commission:

• Online: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
• By Phone: 1-888-225-5322

Those who have been a victim of identity theft should visit https://identitytheft.gov/ for information on how to report it.

To learn more about how to spot and avoid Medicare scams or scams in general visit,

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2019/03/protect-yourself-against-medicare-scams

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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St. Charles Bend technical caregivers ratify first-time contract  

The approximately 150 technical caregivers at St. Charles Bend who are represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals voted yesterday in favor of ratifying their first-time contract

"We are so pleased the Bend techs agreed with the compensation philosophy St. Charles has in place for all of its non-contracted caregivers," said Hillary Forrest, director of Human Resources for St. Charles and a member of the bargaining team. 

The contract provides general wage increases and market adjustments for the first year that will bring the technical caregivers to the same wage level as St. Charles techs at other campuses. The wage package brings the technical caregivers up to the level of wages they would have already received if they had not voted to unionize in September 2019. The average increase is about 11%, which is consistent with increases received from 2019 through the first quarter of 2021 for non-contracted technical caregivers. Most OFNHP members did not receive wage increases during the bargaining process.  

“Our bargaining philosophy has been to ensure that all St. Charles caregivers are treated fairly – regardless of if they are unionized,” Forrest said. “We did not provide retroactive pay for the technical caregivers and we achieved our goal of ensuring this group of caregivers is compensated with the same processes and general increases as caregivers who are not part of a union."

During bargaining, the Bend techs missed out on a potential of four wage and market increases that others have received since the fall of 2019. After the first year, the contract follows the same wage methodology St. Charles already uses for non-contracted caregivers. 

In addition, the St. Charles team held firm throughout negotiations in its belief that all St. Charles caregivers should have a choice as to whether they join a union. The ratified contract is considered an “open shop” and allows current and future St. Charles Bend technical caregivers to choose whether they join the union and pay dues. 

Negotiations on the contract have been taking place since January 2020. St. Charles leaders and union representatives met more than 30 times to bargain the contract – all while dealing with a global pandemic and community-wide COVID-19 vaccination roll-out. The technical caregivers participated in a work stoppage that started March 4 even though the team had not yet had its first session with the federal mediator, which was already scheduled for March 10.   

“The wage proposal that was ratified by yesterday’s vote is the same proposal St. Charles put on the bargaining table before the technical caregivers went out on strike,” Forrest said. “As we have said multiple times, no one wins in a strike situation. We are pleased that OFNHP was willing to return to work so we could negotiate the last items in the contract to ensure no future disruptions to patient care.”

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,500 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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OFNHP and St. Charles reach agreement, strike to end

The union and the hospital have come to an agreement that ends the strike and ensures that further negotiations will proceed effectively while patient care remains the focus.

BEND, Ore.—On Friday, March 12, technical caregivers who are represented by OFNHP and St. Charles Health System leaders came to an agreement that would end the strike and return therapists, technicians, and technologists to work on Monday, March 15. This agreement ensures the two parties will bargain over several days to secure a contract by March 31, addressing key issues that were discussed at a recent bargaining session. The agreement came together as both parties believe patient care is and should be the top priority, the strike has been distracting and difficult for all involved and it is in everyone’s best interest to return to the table and continue bargaining.

Further updates on ongoing contract negotiations will continue to be shared as upcoming sessions occur. The federal mediator has been very helpful and will continue to guide bargaining sessions through the end of the month. We look forward to building on this partnership to approach our collective challenges with dynamic solutions that will result in a fair contract.

St. Charles and OFNHP met with federal mediator to continue negotiations on a first-time contract 

Bargaining teams for St. Charles Bend and the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals met Wednesday for continued negotiations on a first-time contract. This session included a federal mediator in an effort to move the process forward. 

The parties exchanged proposals through the mediator in confidential sessions. 

“The bargaining teams engaged in some joint sessions throughout the day and the presence of the mediator was very helpful,” said Aaron Adams, president of St. Charles Bend. “We are hopeful we can get back to the table soon for further discussion.” 

The St. Charles bargaining team shared with the OFNHP team that the hospital is eager to get back to the table and resolve the situation, but continues to find it challenging to both bargain and run the hospital during a strike. For this reason, St. Charles has asked the union if its members would be willing to return to work so the hospital can create an environment in which its team could better focus on bargaining.  

“No one wins in a strike – not the health system, not our caregivers, not our patients, not our community,” Adams said. “We want the strike to end so we can get back to the table, resolve the contract and focus all of our energy on the most important work of all – caring for our patients.”

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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OFNHP continues to be unresponsive

Now on day five of its strike, the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) has neither declined St. Charles Bend’s March 3 supposal nor provided a counter, or otherwise made any attempt to respond to that proposal since the strike began. 

The parties are still scheduled to meet with a federal mediator for the next bargaining session on March 10. In the meantime, operations at St. Charles Bend continue uninterrupted with qualified replacement workers covering shifts throughout the hospital. Surgeries and other procedures are taking place as scheduled. 

“We’ve not received a return to work notice from the union, which is the first step in the process of bringing our caregivers back to work,” said St. Charles Bend President Aaron Adams.  

Two core issues still remain on the table: compensation and union security.   

The teams have agreed upon wages for the first year of the contract. Under this agreement, the average hourly wage for techs in the bargaining unit will be $41.94 per hour. This equates to an annual base salary of $87,000 a year for a full-time equivalent position, not including overtime, premium pay, shift differentials and other benefits. However, wages for years two through five of the contract are still being negotiated. 

The union has also requested a closed shop, meaning all St. Charles technical employees’ jobs would be conditional upon joining the union and paying 1.4% of their base wage in dues or paying agency fees and giving up voting rights. St. Charles has asked for an open shop in order to give its caregivers a choice on whether they are members of the union. 

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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At St. Charles Bend, patient care is proceeding as normal

St. Charles Bend technical workers represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) went on strike at 8 a.m. Thursday for an indefinite period of time. Representatives from the hospital and union are scheduled to meet again March 10 with a federal mediator.

“I'm looking forward to getting this situation resolved and welcoming our caregivers back,” said St. Charles Bend President Aaron Adams. “They are missed already.”

St. Charles has engaged with an outside agency to recruit dozens of highly skilled replacement workers who will cover shifts at the hospital for the duration of the strike.

“Each person is thoroughly vetted by the agency and St. Charles to ensure they have the proper qualifications and work experience to competently perform their role,” said Vice President of Human Resources Rebecca Berry. “Additionally, they go through an on-site onboarding process.”

St. Charles scheduled limited surgical procedures for Thursday and today, and some cases were moved to St. Charles Redmond. Now that that the replacement workforce is in place, the hospital anticipates operating normally as of Saturday.

“We are pleased with how well the transition to the replacement workforce went Thursday,” Adams said. “Technicians came from all corners of the country, and from some of the top medical centers. We’re pleased we have been able to mitigate disruptions to our health care services.”

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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St. Charles saddened by OFNHP members choice to strike 

Although St. Charles Health System leaders provided another confidential supposal through a federal mediator to the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals last night in an effort to avoid a work stoppage, the union rejected the offer. At 8 a.m. this morning, some technical workers at the Bend hospital chose to walk out rather than come back to the important work of negotiating a first-time contract. 

“This is a sad day,” said Aaron Adams, president of St. Charles Bend. “We want to come to an agreement with our caregivers and have attempted to do so repeatedly. But we also have an important job to do and responsibility to our community. Our focus is taking care of our patients.”

The St. Charles Bend hospital is open and providing care as usual. Trained replacement workers are on site and the community should feel confident in the care they will receive. 

“It is important to us that you know we are here for you,” Adams said. “No matter what happens in the coming days, St. Charles has been here for our Central Oregon patients for more than 100 years and that won’t change.”  

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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St. Charles and OFNHP unable to come to agreement on next steps 

BEND, Ore. – In an effort to move forward negotiations on a first-time labor contract, St. Charles Health System approached the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Tuesday with an offer to return to the bargaining table with a federal mediator today if the union would revoke its strike notice.  

The union was unwilling to do so. The notice, which St. Charles received on Feb. 22, indicates the 156 technical employees represented by OFNHP plan to strike for an indefinite amount of time starting at 8 a.m. Thursday, March 4.   

“We simply don’t have the resources to focus on bargaining a new contract while we are actively preparing for a strike of our technical workforce,” said Aaron Adams, president of St. Charles Bend. “Our top priority must be ensuring we have replacement workers here to care for our community.” 

The timing of the strike is particularly challenging as St. Charles continues to suffer incredible financial losses due to COVID-19. The health system ended 2020 about $21 million below its financial targets even after Cares Act relief funding – mostly because of extended periods of time where surgeries were canceled due to state restrictions or the high volume of COVID-19 patients. St. Charles is experiencing a difficult start to 2021 as well after posting an operating loss of $4.9 million in the month of January. 

St. Charles is not alone. The American Hospital Association estimates that hospitals lost approximately $323 billion in revenue in 2020.  

“While many other health systems laid off staff early on in the pandemic, we made sure our caregivers continued to receive full paychecks even when we didn’t have patients for them to care for,” Adams said. “We have put our caregivers and our patients first throughout this pandemic, which has been hard on us financially. It is unfortunate that OFNHP is now adding to that financial strain.” 

St. Charles values its caregivers and respects their rights to union representation. Before the strike notice was sent, the health system initiated discussions with a federal mediator to help move forward negotiations in the best interest of all involved.  

Only two core issues remain on the table at this time: compensation and union security.  

The teams have agreed upon wages for the first year of the contract. Under this agreement, the average hourly wage for techs in the bargaining unit will be $41.94 per hour once the contract is ratified. This equates to an annual salary of $87,000 a year for a full-time equivalent position, not including overtime, premium pay, shift differentials and other benefits.  

As for union security, St. Charles has asked for an open shop in order to give its caregivers a choice on whether they are members of the union. The union has requested a closed shop, meaning all St. Charles technical employees represented by OFNHP could lose their jobs if they decide they do not want to join the union.  

“We believe in the rights of our caregivers who are interested in union representation to be represented,” Adams said. “But we also believe those who are not interested should have the same right to decline union membership.”  

At this time, the strike is scheduled to go forward on Thursday morning. The parties are still scheduled to meet with a federal mediator for the next bargaining session on March 10.

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,600 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

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