MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. — Frontline nurses in Multnomah County's corrections facilities are calling for the removal of multiple members of the Health Department's corrections management team.
The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) members sent letters to county commissioners on Thursday. They claim gross mismanagement by leaders left them overworked, underpaid and in a hostile work environment, undermining the health of their incarcerated patients. Corrections nurses told KGW they believe there's a staffing crisis that will not get any better until the county makes a change at the top.
Jacob Metcalf is a pediatric corrections health nurse.
"I like taking care of individuals. I have some people are down on their luck. Some people that are accused of doing some very heinous things, but I absolutely do not care," Metcalf said. "I like to joke and say, it's not my job to judge... there are people's jobs to judge and they're called judges. My job is to try and meet the medical needs of incarcerated individuals."
Metcalf hopes to remain in this career long-term, until he retires, but he and his fellow ONA corrections nurses are hitting a breaking point.
"Since we have incarcerated individuals, we have to provide medicine. We have to be there, we have to take care of their acute mental health needs. We cannot not do the job," he said. "We need to have the resources to be fully staffed to be able to do the job safely."
The director and nursing supervisor are specifically named in a multi-page letter from the union to county commissioners, the Health Department and the sheriff of Multnomah County. Nurses write they no longer have any confidence in these select members and are now calling for their removal. They cite increases in fentanyl use, the lingering toll of the pandemic, and the impact of deaths in custody as unprecedented challenges for Corrections Health (CH) and its clients.
The letter says, in part, "We have attempted to engage with management in these meetings but have not seen improvements to our identified issues nor have we seen our desired outcomes to have been met. Therefore, we no longer have any confidence in select members of county health leadership. We are concerned that our vulnerable community is at risk as well as our safety."
"What else has to happen before we have a chance for new leadership? That's all we're asking for," Metcalf said.
The letter alleges the director left for over a month during a crisis of inmate deaths last year, and created a hostile work environment and ignored staff's concerns about the conditions in the jails.
County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson told KGW she's very concerned about the allegations. She stated, in part, "I want to make sure their concerns are heard by me, this board and this organization. All of us are committed to the safety and health of everyone in our detention centers. The health and wellbeing of employees and the people they provide healthcare for in custody are a priority."
Vega Pederson also said her team is working to schedule a meeting with union representatives. ONA is also pushing to present their findings and demands to the full board of commissioners next month.
The chair also stated that she's been working with the Health Department to increase staffing, security and recruitment.
"We've made progress, with 14 new hires and the rehire of 15 on-call nurses. The Health Department has partnered with several staffing agencies to augment the full-time/permanent staff with Agency nurses and other temporary support staff in key roles while we seek to hire permanent staff," Vega Pederson said.