Body

Health care has been a hot topic in the news over the past few weeks since President Trump signed HR1, also known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, into law on July 4. National, state and local headlines about the legislation have been largely focused on reductions in the Medicaid program – both in eligibility and in how the funds flow from the federal government to states.

Unfortunately, St. Charles has been caught in the crosshairs of this particular issue because our hospital in Madras has a high percentage of Medicaid patients. A research organization included St. Charles Madras on a list of hospitals considered “at risk” of closure that has been shared widely.

Let me be clear, St. Charles Madras is not closing.

While we are still working to fully understand the implications of HR1, we know reductions in Medicaid will be phased in over several years and we will have some time to adjust and respond. The way the legislation will be implemented by the state of Oregon is undetermined at this time and will be a factor in how St. Charles is affected.

Also, it’s important to look at St. Charles as a whole, not just the Madras hospital in isolation. We are a health system of four hospitals and dozens of clinics across the region, and we will weather this coming storm together – doing our best to keep care local across all the communities we serve.

It’s understandable that people are concerned about this federal legislation. We, too, are worried about the many patients who are likely to lose Medicaid – which provides health care coverage to one-third of Oregonians under the Oregon Health Plan. Without access to health insurance, we fear patients will delay care, leading to more serious health conditions, the need for more hospitalizations and, ultimately, worse outcomes. The cost of that care does not simply go away.

At the same time, we know the need for care only continues to grow. In the past 12 months, we have served more than 186,400 unique patients and our total patient encounters are up more than 8%. St. Charles needs to grow to continue to meet health care access challenges. If there are any lessons to take from recent legislation it is that we can’t take public funding of that growth for granted.

As we move forward over the coming months, we’ll be looking to you, our community partners, patients, friends and neighbors, to support your local health system so we can provide the quality care you depend on and our community can continue to thrive.
 
Sincerely,
Steve

Share