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. The strike — which includes mostly nurses and 150 doctors and advanced practitioners in addition to thousands of nurses — spans Providence’s eight hospitals in the state.

Thousands of Providence health care workers are striking this morning in the largest health care strike in Oregon history. Here's why.

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