Securing the Future of Healthcare in The Dalles and the Columbia River Gorge Together with Adventist Health
What this collaboration means for our community and patients
The collaboration is expected to bring benefits in access, quality, and equity to the community, employees, and providers. Among those outcomes are strengthening MCMC’s ability to keep and expand health services, providing close-to-home access to needed healthcare, and improving recruitment of employees and providers. Together, MCMC and Adventist Health intend to maintain and enhance the immediate and long-term financial viability of MCMC that enables needed investments in the healthcare campus, technology, programs, and people.
Why Adventist Health
Over the past several months as our two organizations have met to determine the details of our agreement, Adventist Health has proven that they are the right cultural and operational fit for MCMC, our team members and the community.
Adventist Health has a longstanding tradition of nonprofit, integrated healthcare that spans beyond their hospital walls. They are dedicated to the long-term viability of their health systems, from investing in their employees and physicians to expanding the services they provide. Additionally, like MCMC, Adventist Health has a culture of care and kindness as well as the expectation of high-quality healthcare.
The agreement between MCMC and Adventist Health will provide additional resources to enhance the quality of healthcare and invest in our people and resources in ways not possible otherwise. Together, we look forward to the continuation of local patient-centric care as well as new growth opportunities for the communities we serve.
Our Path to Today
Over the last few years, the healthcare industry has continually changed, with rural community hospitals like ours facing the strongest headwinds. After careful deliberation, the MCMC Board of Trustees determined that our ability to thrive in the future may rely on an affiliation with a strong organization and ultimately decided that Adventist Health was the right fit for healthcare in our local area.
Following the launch of the exploration process in December of 2021, we spent months asking our community and team for input as we considered different partner opportunities. Over the course of many months, the MCMC Board of Trustees considered proposals through multiple lenses, including the ability to keep care local, their potential investments in rural and community care and their plans to maintain and enhance employee, physician and APP satisfaction, opportunities and education.
In August of 2022, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to move forward with a letter of intent between MCMC and Adventist Health. Since then, the teams from MCMC and Adventist Health have worked thoughtfully and thoroughly to fully determine the details of an agreement, which was approved by both MCMC’s Board of Trustees and Adventist Health’s Board of Directors in December of 2022, and approved by the state and regulatory bodies April of 2023.
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Frequently Asked Questions
On April 13, we received conditional approval of our application to come together from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). This approval is conditional and is contingent upon maintaining all service lines, fulfilling Adventist Health’s financial commitment, and providing greater access to care in the region — all of which we have been committed to doing since we announced our Letter of Intent in August 2022.
Following the OHA’s approval, we also received approval from the Oregon State Attorney General, which was the final step in the state and regulatory review process. With these requirements fulfilled, our two organizations are planning on an official closing date sometime early this summer. After the deal officially closes, we will all come together to celebrate this historic milestone and kick off our new chapter.
Like many business deals involving two large organizations, this agreement is complex and full of legal terms that may seem confusing or unclear. What is important to remember is that we are joining the Adventist Health family, which will have a tremendous impact on our hospital, our patients and the communities we serve.
Their $100 million commitment will not only allow us to invest in capital improvements and critical infrastructure updates, it will also ensure our long-term financial viability in ways not possible on our own. Gaining Adventist Health as our parent company will provide oversight and support for urgent needs like recruitment and retention, technology upgrades, workforce development, service line improvements and much more.
At the end of the day, our people and culture will remain unchanged. We will continue to provide expert, compassionate care to our friends and neighbors in The Dalles and the Columbia River Gorge; we will remain a trusted source of support for the patients and families who need us; and we will never stop doing all we can to enhance the health and well-being of every person who comes through our doors. That is who we have always been and who we will continue to be.
Our agreement will create a more vibrant and comprehensive healthcare hub in The Dalles and the Columbia River Gorge—and allow MCMC to benefit from Adventist Health’s enhancements in clinical and organizational initiatives, purchasing support, access to additional clinical and operational expertise, greater economies of scale and much more. Together, MCMC and Adventist Health intend to maintain and enhance the immediate and long-term financial viability of MCMC that enables us to make needed investments in the healthcare campus, technology, programs and people.
For our community and patients, the agreement will:
- Increase health equity and equitable access to care for all residents of The Dalles and the Columbia River Gorge, furthering our charitable mission;
- Promote reliability, availability and continuity of healthcare in order to meet the needs of the community;
- Strengthen MCMC’s ability to deliver healthcare programs that support the wellbeing of the community;
- Broaden and deepen MCMC’s engagement with and support of the community; and
- Provide a broader depth of healthcare services that people of our community need and can access close to where they live and work.
For our employees, physicians and APPs, the agreement will:
- Provide access to sophisticated recruitment capabilities to retain high-quality primary care and specialty care physicians and APPs;
- Provide additional resources and opportunities that can position MCMC as an employer of choice for employees and clinical partner of choice for the medical staff community;
- Build upon the great work of our teams to continue to increase clinical quality of our services and programs; and
- Promote and retain our team-based culture consistent with the Planetree Philosophy that celebrates our past, while building our future.
Both MCMC and Adventist Health have committed to exploring our shared vision for a future healthcare campus. A feasibility study has been conducted to help assess the community and patient needs of the region, as well as the unique opportunities and challenges that MCMC may face today and in the future. MCMC and Adventist Health are currently evaluating the findings to determine the best way to meet community needs and continue to expand our mission.
MCMC will convene a capital committee made up of members of the MCMC executive team, medical staff and Community Board, plus a representative from Adventist Health. This committee will put together a plan for how to allocate the $100 million and provide it to Adventist Health. The majority of the commitment will be used to make facility improvements, finance strategic expansions, purchase equipment and new technology or systems and support capital projects.
While nothing changes today, after our deal closure we will rebrand our health system with a combination of MCMC and Adventist Health brands.
All of our integration work will be overseen and guided by the Integration Steering Committee, consisting of representatives from MCMC and Adventist Health. These representatives are responsible for the overall coordination of integration strategy, priorities and initiatives.
The hands-on integration work will be undertaken by clinical and administrative work groups made up of leaders from various functional areas, departments and clinics. They will develop the integration plan for their respective functions and carry out the agreed-upon initiatives for integration.
Together, the steering committee and work groups will ensure that our process is thoughtful, organized and designed with our team members top of mind.
As a nonprofit health system Adventist Health takes great pride in providing for the communities they serve. And as a faith-based organization Adventist Health focuses on the whole-person including patients’ spiritual needs. Community members, patients and employees of every faith and background are welcome throughout the Adventist Health system and clinics.
The current services available at MCMC will not change. The OHA’s approval of our agreement was in part contingent upon us maintaining all services lines, which we have been committed to doing since the beginning of this journey.
We do not anticipate any job losses. Meeting the current and future health care needs of our service area depends on maintaining, recruiting and advancing a dedicated and high performing workforce. We can’t achieve our shared goals without them.
Over time, Adventist Health will provide MCMC with access to services currently provided across the system, including:
- Comprehensive support and back-office services;
- Comprehensive physician infrastructure services;
- Expertise and infrastructure to achieve operational efficiencies;
- Programs, services and infrastructure that support the transition and advancement towards population health management and value-based care;
- Quality improvement, data collection, financial tools, programs, infrastructure and systems to enhance care quality, patient safety, sustainability and growth;
- Medical management policies and programs, standardized care, and post-acute care management protocols to improve clinical quality;
- Technology, data, analytics, telehealth capabilities, and evidence-based best practices, including Adventist’s data warehouse platform and performance analytics;
- Captive insurance and risk management programs;
- Branding and marketing services;
- Fundraising support; and
- Access to efficiencies in administrative and clinical operations (including revenue cycle management, labor productivity systems, overhead management systems and system policies and procedures).
An agreement with Adventist Health will enable MCMC to continue to meet the demands of our diverse, growing community and provide high-quality local healthcare for generations to come.
Specifically, for our community and patients, the agreement will:
- Increase health equity and equitable access to care for all residents of The Dalles and the Columbia River Gorge, furthering our charitable mission;
- Promote reliability, availability and continuity of healthcare in order to meet the needs of the community;
- Strengthen MCMC’s ability to deliver healthcare programs that support the wellbeing of the community;
- Broaden and deepen MCMC’s engagement with and support of the community; and
- Provide a broader depth of healthcare services that people of our community need and can access close to where they live and work.
Today, nothing changes. Patients should keep their appointments and continue to visit the providers, clinics and facilities they always have.
No. MCMC is committed to providing the best in reproductive healthcare, including maternity care for all patients, their families and loved ones. We provide full scope general reproductive (OB/GYN) services and a range of other general gynecology services in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws and guidelines, including the Oregon Reproductive Health Equity Act of 2017.
We believe that decisions about reproductive care are between a patient and their provider, and we trust our providers to make those decisions based on the individual needs and circumstances of the patients in their care.
The current services available at MCMC will not change. The OHA’s approval of our agreement was in part contingent upon us maintaining all services lines, which we have been committed to doing since the beginning of this journey.
Both MCMC and Adventist Health believe every person deserves access to the health services they need and are not in the business of interfering in the relationship between a patient and their provider. We trust our providers to make care decisions based on the individual needs of their patients and in accordance with their patients’ wishes.
MCMC will continue to accept all current insurance plans. Patients will continue to have access to their current providers without any disruption.
This announcement does not change or impact donations to the Mid-Columbia Health Foundation. In fact, the Foundation is excluded from the agreement and remains separate and independent. We will continue to accept and encourage donations. Our Foundation board remains local, and every dollar raised will continue to support quality healthcare for The Dalles and the Columbia River Gorge.
Now that we have approval from OHA and the Attorney General, which was the final step in the state and regulatory review process, our two organizations are planning on an official closing date sometime early this summer. After the deal officially closes, we will all come together to celebrate this historic milestone and kick off our new chapter.
Other Resources:
- Media Coverage: Guest commentary: Physician leaders speak to future healthcare
- Latest News: August 2022, December 2022, April 2023