It’s official: The Center Orthopedic & Neurosurgical Care & Research — a longtime provider of orthopedic, neurosurgical, occupational and physiatric care in Central Oregon — is now a part of St. Charles Health System.
Its new name is the St. Charles Center for Orthopedics and Neurosurgery, and about 250 people who worked for The Center — including 27 physicians and 29 advanced practice providers — decided to join our team. They work in clinics in Bend, Redmond, Sisters, La Pine and John Day, and the surgeons among them provide surgical care at the Bend and Redmond hospitals, Cascade Surgicenter and Bend Surgery Center.
I want to thank those folks for their patience as we’ve worked through this complicated integration process. We are excited to have them on our team and are making every effort to make sure they feel welcome at St. Charles.
I also want to thank the many St. Charles caregivers who worked hard over the past few months to make this transition as seamless as possible. We are stronger today because of their efforts.
The history of The Center and of St. Charles are deeply intertwined. The Center physicians and providers have always been essential members of the St. Charles medical staff, and over the years many served in St. Charles leadership roles, including on the boards of St. Charles and the St. Charles Foundation. And yet this integration is still a big change for all of us — providers, employees and patients. I believe it was absolutely necessary.
Over the past few years, Central Oregon experienced a rapid reduction in access to care across many different types of medicine, due in part to increasing costs to provide care and flat or declining reimbursements. The number of orthopedic, neurosurgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation providers in the region has decreased dramatically, making access to necessary care a significant burden for patients and their families.
The Center tried to fill care gaps as best they could, but as a stand-alone practice found it very difficult to recruit and retain providers at a pace fast enough to stabilize the service. Their leadership was concerned that without immediate financial support, more providers would leave the region, worsening the long delays patients are experiencing for care.
Like The Center, St. Charles is committed to providing the best possible care in the communities we serve. So, it made sense for us to step in and help shore up these critical services and ensure care remains locally owned and operated.
It’s the right thing to do, not just for St. Charles, but to ensure Central Oregonians continue to have access to a wide variety of health care services close to home.
As a patient or visitor, your experience should largely remain the same as it has been in recent years. You may notice a new sign on the building, but once inside, you can expect to encounter great people and receive great care.
That’s what we do here at St. Charles. As always, I’m proud to be a part of it.
Sincerely,
Steve
