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Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles is tentatively being absorbed by California-based Adventist Health. | PHOTO BY LARVICK MEDIA/COURTESY OF MCMC

In Columbia Gorge, A Small Hospital Turns To A Big System For Help

The proposed affiliation between Mid-Columbia Medical Center and California-based Adventist Health underscores the financial jam at some rural hospitals.

Sep 22, 2022

Hospital Finances Flashback: Oregon’s Hospital Districts Face Mounting Pressures

Public-owned hospitals such as Bay Area, Blue Mountain, Coquille Valley, Curry General, Harney District, Lake District, Lower Umpqua, Pioneer Memorial, Southern Coos and Wallowa Memorial struggle to remain independent.

Aug 26, 2015

The west plaza at Oregon State Hospital in Salem. | COURTESY OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY

Judge again rejects hospital lawsuit over psychiatric patient boarding

Four hospital systems, which provide a majority of Oregon’s psychiatric beds, indicated they are “assessing their options”

Jul 13, 2023
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Republican plan to cut Medicaid would unravel Oregon’s health care safety net, experts say

Oregon lawmakers would have to call a special session to grapple with a loss of at least $1 billion in federal funds in its next budget

Jun 4, 2025
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A volunteer street medic who goes by the name Rat is shown outside the ICE protests Oct. 18, 2025 | KARINA BROWN

Federal agents keep deploying tear gas near kids. We have no idea what it does to their health.

Exposure to chemical irritants can cause chest tightness, coughing and shortness of breath. For kids, there’s more potential for serious side effects.

Feb 24

Standing on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River in North Portland on Nov. 14, 2023, Dr. Eric Seymour said he was born pro-union, but that some of his fellow hospitalists employed by the Legacy Health System have needed convincing. | LILLIAN MONGEAU HUGHES/THE LUND REPORT

Hospital physicians at Legacy Health likely to unionize

Citing working conditions and increased financial pressures, hospitalists at Legacy's eight hospitals expect to win a pending union vote

Nov 16, 2023
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Oregon Hospital Data Reveals Growing Reliance on Government Payments

Medicare and Medicaid add up to more than two thirds of hospital charges in the most recent figures, with small coastal hospitals Peace Harbor and Lower Umpqua Hospital most reliant on these programs

Jan 27, 2017
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As respiratory illnesses cause increasing strain on hospitals in Oregon and Washington, PeaceHealth officials are telling people not to come to the emergency room at Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver if at all possible. | COURTESY OF PEACEHEALTH

At Catholic hospitals, a mission of charity runs up against high care costs for patients

Many Catholic health systems, which are tax-exempt, pay their executives millions and can charge some of the highest prices around — while critics say they scrimp on commitments to their communities.

Sep 12, 2024

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