After a year of due diligence and operational exploration, Samaritan Health Services and Santiam Hospital and Clinics announced their mutual decision to cease pursuit of formal affiliation.
In a press release, the nonprofits stated they remain committed to their missions of service within the region and will continue to look for ways to collaborate that might benefit the health and well-being of the community from the mid-Willamette Valley through the central Oregon coast regions. Patient care, they said, should not be impacted by this decision.
Samaritan Health Services and Santiam Hospital and Clinics a year ago signed a definitive agreement and are seeking approval from the Oregon Health Authority to affiliate in early summer of 2025.
The two organizations signed a nonbinding letter of intent in late May of 2024 “to allow the parties to further evaluate the affiliation with the anticipated outcome of Santiam Hospital and Clinics becoming part of Samaritan Health Services,” Samaritan stated in a news release.
The idea was that as nonprofit, community-based health systems with similar missions, visions, values, and cultures, \ joining together through affiliation would strengthen both organizations through increased access to services, improving health equity and enhancing services provided to communities throughout the mid-Willamette Valley and central Oregon coast regions, Samaritan said.
Samaritan Health Services is a nonprofit regional health system that brings together five community hospitals, more than 100 physician clinics and multiple health insurance plans to serve more than 290,000 residents in Oregon’s Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties.
Samaritan employs more than 5,000 workers, including 620 clinicians, and is governed by a volunteer board, which includes community members, physicians and hospital leaders.
Santiam Hospital and Clinics is a nonprofit health care organization, governed by a volunteer board of directors.
Santiam Hospital and Clinics is an independent, acute-care hospital in Stayton, operating 12 clinics serving the Santiam Canyon in Marion and Linn counties. Santiam Hospital & Clinics serves more than 40,000 residents and employs more than 600 staff, including 70 medical staff focused on community-based care.