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

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.

Nearly 5,000 healthcare workers from Providence Health began a strike Friday morning, picketing all eight Providence hospitals in Oregon, after months of contract negotiations between the health system and the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) union,