(1)(a) For each hospital there shall be established a hospital professional and technical staffing committee. A hospital professional and technical staffing committee shall consist of an equal number of hospital professional and technical managers and professional and technical staff who work at the hospital.

Have a question?
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) If the professional and technical staff who work at the hospital have an exclusive representative, the exclusive representative shall select the staff members of the hospital professional and technical staffing committee.

(c) If none of the professional and technical staff who work at the hospital have an exclusive representative, the professional and technical managers shall select the professional and technical staff members of the hospital professional and technical staffing committee.

(2) A hospital professional and technical staffing committee shall develop a written hospital-wide professional and technical staffing plan in accordance with subsection (5) of this section. In developing the staffing plan, the primary goal of the committee shall be to ensure that the hospital is staffed sufficiently to meet the health care needs of the patients in the hospital. The committee shall review and modify the staffing plan, as needed, in accordance with this section.

(3) A majority of the members of the hospital professional and technical staffing committee constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business.

(4) A hospital professional and technical staffing committee must have two cochairs. One cochair shall be a professional or technical manager elected by the members of the committee who are professional or technical managers. The other cochair shall be a professional or technical staff person elected by the members of the committee who are professional and technical staff.

(5)(a) A hospital professional and technical staffing committee shall develop a professional and technical staffing plan that is consistent with the approved nurse staffing plan for the hospital and that takes into account the hospital service staffing plan for the hospital developed under ORS § 441.776.

(b) The hospital professional and technical staffing committee shall consider the following criteria when developing the professional and technical staffing plan:

(A) The hospital’s census;

(B) Location of the patients;

(C) Patient types and patient acuity;

(D) National standards, if any;

(E) The size of the hospital and square footage of the hospital;

(F) Ensuring patient access to care; and

(G) Feedback received during committee meetings from staff.

(6)(a) A hospital professional and technical staffing committee must adopt a professional and technical staffing plan by a majority vote of the members of the committee. If a quorum of members present at a meeting comprises an unequal number of professional and technical staff and professional and technical managers, only an equal number of staff and managers may vote. A staffing plan adopted by the committee must include a summary of the committee’s consideration of the criteria in subsection (5) of this section and how the plan:

(A) Is consistent with the approved nurse staffing plan for the hospital; and

(B) Takes into account the hospital service staffing plan for the hospital that was developed in accordance with ORS § 441.776.

(b) If the hospital professional and technical staffing committee does not adopt a professional and technical staffing plan or adopts only a part of the staffing plan, either cochair may invoke the commencement of a 60-day period during which the committee shall continue to develop the staffing plan. If, by the end of the 60-day period, the committee does not adopt a staffing plan or adopts only part of a staffing plan, the committee shall submit the disputed plan or parts of the plan, as applicable, including a summary of the committee’s consideration of the criteria in subsection (5) of this section, to the chief executive officer of the hospital. No later than 60 days after receiving the submission from the committee, the chief executive officer or the chief executive officer’s designee shall decide the disputed plan or parts of the plan, as applicable, considering the summary of the committee’s consideration of the criteria in subsection (5) of this section, and adopt the staffing plan or parts of the staffing plan that were not adopted by the committee. The chief executive officer or the chief executive officer’s designee shall provide to the committee:

(A) A written explanation of the staffing plan or the parts of the staffing plan that were in dispute;

(B) The final written proposals of the members of the committee and the members’ rationales for their proposals and the committee’s summary of the committee’s consideration of the criteria in subsection (5) of this section; and

(C) A summary of the consideration by the chief executive officer or the chief executive officer’s designee of the criteria in subsection (5) of this section.

(c) If the hospital professional and technical staffing committee is unable to reach an agreement on the professional and technical staffing plan during the 60-day period invoked under paragraph (b) of this subsection, the members of the committee may extend deliberations for one additional 60-day period before the disputed plan or parts of the plan must be submitted to the chief executive officer or the chief executive officer’s designee in accordance with paragraph (b) of this subsection. The deliberations may be extended under this paragraph only by a majority vote of the members of the committee. If a quorum of members present at a meeting comprises an unequal number of professional and technical staff and professional and technical managers, only an equal number of staff and managers may vote.

(d) A professional and technical staffing plan adopted by a hospital professional and technical staffing committee, a chief executive officer or the chief executive officer’s designee must include any staffing-related terms and conditions that were previously adopted through any applicable collective bargaining agreement, including any meal break and rest break requirements, unless a term or condition is in direct conflict with an applicable statute or administrative rule.

(7) A hospital professional and technical staffing committee must meet three times each year and at the call of either cochair, at a time and place specified by the cochairs.

(8)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a hospital professional and technical staffing committee meeting must be open to:

(A) The hospital’s professional and technical staff, who shall be offered the opportunity to provide feedback to the committee during the committee’s meetings; and

(B) Other observers or presenters invited by either cochair.

(b) While the committee is deliberating or voting during a meeting, either cochair may exclude individuals described in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(9) Minutes must be taken at every hospital professional and technical staffing committee meeting and the minutes must:

(a) Include all motions made and the outcome of all votes taken;

(b) Include a summary of all discussions; and

(c) Be made available in a timely manner to any of the hospital staff upon request.

(10) A manager shall release from their duties staff and managers who serve on the hospital professional and technical staffing committee and compensate the staff and managers who serve on the committee for time spent attending committee meetings.

(11) The hospital shall submit the professional and technical staffing plan adopted under subsection (6) of this section to the Oregon Health Authority no later than 30 days after adoption of the staffing plan and shall submit any subsequent changes to the authority no later than 30 days after the changes are adopted.

(12) Each hospital unit, as defined by the chief executive officer or the chief executive officer’s designee, may deviate from the professional and technical staffing plan within a period of 12 consecutive hours, no more than six times during a rolling 30-day period, without being in violation of the staffing plan. The unit manager must notify the hospital professional and technical staffing committee cochairs no later than 10 days after each deviation. Each subsequent deviation during the 30-day period constitutes a separate violation under ORS § 441.792. [2023 c.507 § 3]

See note under 441.761.