Sometimes, people get along in Oregon politics.

A landmark example is House Bill 2697, which Gov. Tina Kotek ceremonially signed on Tuesday. The bill, a hard-fought compromise among labor unions and hospitals, establishes minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in Oregon hospitals.

“For years, nurses and other frontline care providers have faced chronic understaffing in acute care settings, which in turn led to an exodus of caregivers from the bedside,” Allison Seymour, Oregon Nurses Association secretary and board member, said Tuesday.

Seymour described herself as “one of the many, many nurses in this state that left the bedside due to the ongoing strain, burnout [and] moral injury caused from working in unsafe working conditions.”

With staffing ratios enshrined in state law, she said, “I’m thankful to now be one of the many nurses that can return safely to the bedside.”

Kotek actually signed the bill on July 31. Ceremonial signings are opportunities for bill supporters to congratulate one another, laud Kotek’s leadership and join the governor in a photo.

There was a sharp difference between the two bills that on Tuesday drew scores of supporters to the State Library, which is home to Kotek’s office and ceremony room during the State Capitol reconstruction.

Kotek first ceremonially signed HB 2002 on abortion and gender-affirming medical care. Before being altered in the final days of the 2023 Legislature, the measure was so contentious that it fueled the Republican and Independent senators’ walkout.

“This legislation clarifies the patient’s right to reproductive health care and shields health care providers from the kind of criminal prosecution that we are seeing in far too many states across our country. House Bill 2002 [also] clarifies and expands access to gender-affirming care by closing gaps in insurance coverage,” Kotek said to applause.

She thanked “the legislative leaders who stood firm in the face of the longest walkout in Oregon history to ensure Oregonians would still get these essential health care protections. I’m proud to stand here with you and say that together we have secured the most protective abortion policies in the country.” More applause.

Legislators passed the bill on near-party-line votes, and on July 13 Kotek signed it.

In contrast, only 14 lawmakers voted against the nurse-staffing bill, whose survival early this year had been uncertain. Nurses and their labor union allies contended that mandatory nurse-to-patient staffing ratios would save lives while reducing nurse burnout. The hospital industry countered that HB 2697, as proposed, would harm patients and exacerbate the nursing shortage.

Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, persevered. The leading proponent, he chaired the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee and pushed for a workable compromise. On March 28, the two sides reached a historic agreement on a workforce package with HB 2697 as the centerpiece.

“Through countless conversations and negotiations, we have found common ground,” Becky Hultberg, president/CEO of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, said Tuesday. “We must live up to the agreements that we’ve reached, now and in the future, for this legislation to succeed. And as we celebrate today, we should remember that this achievement was only possible through open dialogue, compromise and a commitment to positive change.

“Our joint effort serves as an example of what can be achieved when we act with goodwill and come together for a common purpose.”

Ah, if only the same were to happen on a multitude of contentious civic concerns.

This bill and related legislation were big steps but they won’t resolve the industry’s problems. Oregon, with its aging population, faces a shortage of nurses and other providers. Labor strife happens more frequently. Layoffs have occurred throughout the state. Many hospitals, especially rural ones, run in the red. Government’s subsidies are inadequate and overly complicated. Central Oregon’s largest provider, St. Charles Health System, might even stop accepting Medicare Advantage insurance.

“More than two-thirds of Oregon’s hospitals lost money in the first quarter of 2023,” the Oregon hospital association said last month. “Though hospitals’ median operating margin increased by one-half of a percentage point to -2.2%, the first quarter of 2023 marks the fifth consecutive quarter of negative overall operating margins.”

The Legacy Health Mount Hood Family Birth Center in Gresham shut down this year until the Oregon Health Authority intervened. Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City apparently intends to close its birth center despite the pleas of Kotek, Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and many others.

The Baker City Herald noted in an editorial this week, “The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform estimates that 30% of America’s rural hospitals could potentially close due to a variety of factors, including insufficient reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid as well as private insurance.”

Metro-area residents learned this week that struggling Legacy Health is being taken over by Oregon Health & Science University, creating a system with more than 32,000 employees and 10 hospitals. It’s worth noting that in 2017, OHSU and Salem Hospital dissolved their partnership that had been presented as transforming health care.

Looking for leadership: The Oregon Health Authority has been without a permanent director for months, and the state Department of Corrections even longer.

“We are in the process of reviewing applications. And that’s the most I can say right now. We have a pool of applicants for both jobs,” Kotek said Tuesday when I inquired about the openings.

Other openings for department directors include Agriculture, Emergency Management, Oregon Lottery and Water Resources.

So far, Kotek has appointed the new secretary of state, LaVonne Griffin-Valade; Supreme Court JusticeAruna Masih; and six department directors: Aviation, Kenji Sugahara, confirmed by the Senate; Education, Dr. Charlene Williams, awaiting Senate confirmation hearing during September Legislative Days; Employment, David Gerstenfeld, confirmed by Senate; Administrative Services, Berri Leslie, confirmed by Senate; Public Safety Standards and Training, Philip Castle, Senate confirmation not required; and State Police, Casey Codding, confirmed by Senate.