WSNA nurses, Skyline Hospital stalled over wages

WHITE SALMON — The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) and Skyline Hospital met for their sixth round of bargaining negotiations on Aug. 13. While the parties have agreed on some non-economic changes to WSNA’s contract, which expired July 1, there’s still distance on the issue of competitive, livable wages.

According to a market analysis by WSNA, on average, Skyline pays its nurses about 16.5% less than those at comparable hospitals like Adventist Health and Klickitat Valley Health (KVH). At the same time, Skyline spent around $1 million on traveling, or agency, nurses in 2023 and paid them over $30 more per hour than the highest-earning staff nurse.