The largest health care strike in Oregon history began early Friday at Providence across the state, as roughly 5,000 frontline health professionals walked off the job.

Close to 5,000 Providence nurses and about 150 doctors, midwives and advanced practice providers went on strike indefinitely starting Friday morning.

Nearly 5,000 nurses, doctors and other health workers at Providence Health & Services hospitals and clinics in Oregon are walking off their jobs beginning 6 a.m. Friday. It is set to be the largest strike by health workers in the state’s history — and the first involving a union representing doctors.

The strike, which impacts all eight Providence hospitals in the state as well as six women’s clinics, includes nearly 5,000 nurses, and 150 physicians and advanced practitioners.

Nearly 5,000 doctors and nurses at several Providence hospitals and clinics hit the picket lines Friday in what could be the largest health care worker strike i

Providence Health & Services in Oregon has asked federal mediators to revisit negotiations with doctors and other advanced clinical providers set to go on strike next week. The appeal comes after 5,000 nurses,

Nearly 5,000 nurses, physicians and other caregivers from eight Providence hospitals and six Providence clinics began an open-ended strike at 6 a.m. Friday. “This is truly a historic event,” Oregon Nurses Association Executive Director Anne Tan Piazza said at a Thursday new conference.

With concern growing over hospital care as a Friday strike looms at Providence Hospitals, representatives from the Oregon Nurses Association held a press conference to update the public on their preparations.