This past Wednesday, Northwest Medicine United filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board involving Samaritan Health Services. The federal case is listed here in Corvallis. It identifies 101 employees as part of the proposed bargaining unit.
The petition filed can be found here on the NLRB website.
This proposed union would include full-time, regular part-time, and per diem physicians, physician associates, and nurse practitioners working across 25 Samaritan primary care clinics in Oregon.
Six of the clinics listed in the federal filing are located here in town: Samaritan Internal Medicine, Samaritan Family Medicine Resident Clinic, Samaritan Medical Group Family Medicine, Samaritan Pediatrics, Samaritan Medical Group Family Medicine, Samaritan Medical Group Family Medicine.
The remaining clinics are spread throughout Samaritan’s regional service area.
The organization seeking to represent the clinicians is Northwest Medicine United, Local 6552, AFT, AFL-CIO. This union represents physicians and other medical providers in Oregon and Washington.
The NLRB filing is the beginning of the federal representation process. That should be noted, as they are not fully unionized yet.
The interesting part of the filing is the timing. We can lead you a bit here, even with the possibility of coincidence.
Samaritan is moving through the regulatory process for its planned affiliation with Tacoma-based MultiCare Health System. Samaritan said earlier this month that it remains hopeful the affiliation can be completed this fall, pending the required regulatory approvals. MultiCare has committed to invest at least $700 million over 10 years in Samaritan facilities, technology, clinician recruitment, and expanded access to care.
Northwest Medicine United, who filed the representation petition, is already familiar with MultiCare.
Last year, physicians at MultiCare’s Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma organized with Northwest Medicine United. That effort also went through the NLRB’s Region 19, the same regional office assigned to the new Samaritan case.
The Mary Bridge election ultimately included 97 eligible physicians. Of the 83 ballots counted, 68 physicians voted for union representation, and 15 voted against it. The NLRB certified Northwest Medicine United as the bargaining representative on May 30, 2025.
Northwest Medicine United said at the time that “the Mary Bridge physicians wanted a formal role in decisions affecting patient care through collective bargaining.” The union also described physician organizing as a way to address staffing level issues, and what it considers “increasing corporate control of medicine.”
No evidence exists in the NLRB filing that Samaritan’s planned MultiCare affiliation prompted the union campaign. The federal filing identifies the proposed bargaining unit and participating clinics, but it does not state why the clinicians decided to organize.
It’s not the first time for organized labor to be a part of Samaritan Health Services. The newly filed petition is an attempt to establish a bargaining unit specifically encompassing physicians, physician associates, and nurse practitioners working specifically in Samaritan’s primary care network.
We will continue following this case as it moves through the NLRB process. As of now, information is limited to just the filing, but we felt it was worth reporting on.
This article was written by Jesse Grant, a contributor to The Corvallis Inquirer. Feel free to send us your stories or articles to publish at: editor@corvallisnow.com
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