Oregon Hospital Demands Nurses Sign Waivers to Block Overtime Bonuses, Incentive Pay
- Since December 2025, Asante has implemented a new policy requiring nurses to sign waivers forfeiting bonus pay before they can fill open shifts.
- Previously, nurses received bonus compensation for working consecutive days.
- The Oregon Health Authority is actively investigating dozens of complaints against Asante for staffing violations and has already fined the hospital system $34,000 for June violations alone.
At Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Oregon, nurses are speaking up about a policy they say is worsening an already tough staffing situation and putting patient care at risk. According to Jefferson Public Radio, the hospital is now requiring nurses to sign waivers forfeiting their bonus pay before they can pick up extra shifts.
This is all happening as Oregon’s nurse-to-patient staffing law, passed in 2023, starts to take shape. The law went into effect in June 2025, meaning hospitals across the state can face penalties if they don’t meet mandatory staffing ratios.
When Bonus Pay Becomes a Bargaining Chip
Before this policy change, Asante offered bonus pay to nurses who worked a certain number of consecutive shifts in a row. But now, nurses say they are being asked to sign away that extra pay if they want to work extra hours. Unsurprisingly, this hasn’t gone over well with the nursing staff or the ONA.
The union has filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the waiver violates their contract. And here’s the kicker: nurses who are ready and willing to work during critical staffing shortages have reportedly been turned away simply because they wouldn’t sign the waiver.
Fred Katz, the chairperson of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) at Asante, says this policy, rolled out in December, has already left the hospital short dozens of nurses on any given day.
Shockingly, the hospital's critical care unit even had to close during the holidays because there weren’t enough nurses to staff it. Another ONA spokesperson claimed that nurses showed up during the closure, ready to work, but were turned away because they refused to sign the waiver.
Asante called those claims "unfounded and inaccurate accusations."
Regardless, the reality is that staffing has become a problem at the hospital, and Katz is adamant that the waiver is playing a large part.
“Asking people to sign a waiver is not incentivizing them to work, and not incentivizing people to work is leaving us short-staffed,” Katz told JPR.
Asante Has Already Been Fined in the Past for Violating Staffing
As it would turn out, this isn't the first staffing issue Asante has encountered.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has already slapped Asante with a $34,000 fine for staffing violations in just one month, and they’re investigating dozens of complaints against the hospital.
But as Katz pointed out, even these fines might not be enough to push hospitals to comply with staffing laws. He told JPR that despite the union attempting to meet with Asante's administration about solutions for staffing, no progress has been made.
“This new administration, I don't think, is as eager to follow the law or as eager to pay people the incentive to come in and work,” Katz said.
What This Means for Nurses, and Their Paychecks
For nurses, this issue is about way more than money. The ONA and its members are fighting to ensure that patients receive the care they need and that nurses have the opportunity to do their jobs effectively without burning themselves out.
Katz summed it up perfectly, saying: “We want patients to get what they need in a timely manner, for nurses to have a reasonable shot at doing a great job and going home proud of the work they do.”
The stakes are high. Oregon’s staffing law was designed to protect both patients and nurses by ensuring there are enough hands on deck to deliver safe, quality care. But implementing this kind of change isn’t easy, and hospitals like Asante are struggling to balance compliance, costs, and staff satisfaction.
As discussed, Asante, for its part, denies the allegations. Still, the ONA is pressing forward with its grievance, and the OHA’s investigations continue.
Whatever happens next, this situation could set a precedent for how staffing laws and bonus pay policies play out, not just in Oregon but across the country.
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