More Portland area medical providers voted this week to unionize, as the Oregon Nurses Association continues to expand its ranks in the Legacy Health System.

About 120 advanced practice providers—a diffuse group which includes some nurse practitioners, physician associates and midwives, among others—will join the union, after an overwhelming majority favored the move in votes tallied Tuesday.

The workers, known by the “APP”” acronym, work in diffuse roles across the Legacy Health System, in several different hospitals and clinics.

“A patient who interacts with Legacy at any level is likely to receive care from an APP, since we make up about one-third of the providers here. But sometimes it feels like we are a hidden workforce,” said Beth Alston, an advanced practice provider at Legacy H

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