Boiler Bay Beacon
Lincoln City — The Oregon Health Authority has given conditional approval to Samaritan Health Services’ affiliation with MultiCare Health System, clearing the biggest remaining regulatory hurdle and positioning Lincoln County’s two critical-access hospitals for a major infusion of resources.
According to a news release issued by Samaritan, the decision lets the two nonprofit systems push ahead with the final legal and administrative steps needed to close the deal. OHA attached conditions aimed at protecting access to care and strengthening local healthcare. Samaritan and MultiCare said those conditions line up closely with the commitments already written into their affiliation agreement.
“This approval is an important step forward for the communities we serve,” Samaritan President and CEO Marty Cahill said in the release. “Our affiliation with MultiCare will provide additional resources to invest in our workforce, facilities, technology and services – and help make it easier for people to receive high-quality care close to home.”
MultiCare CEO Bill Robertson called the partnership an honor and said the Tacoma-based system is ready to support Samaritan’s long-standing mission of community-based care. MultiCare President Florence Chang added that the two organizations can build on the strengths of both and create new opportunities to improve access across the Pacific Northwest.
Once the affiliation closes, MultiCare has committed to investing $700 million over 10 years to expand services, recruit and retain providers, upgrade facilities and technology, and bring more care closer to home across Samaritan’s mid-Willamette Valley and central Oregon Coast region, the release stated. That region includes the 25-bed Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City, a critical-access and Level IV trauma facility, and the 25-bed Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport that serves Depoe Bay, Toledo, Waldport and Yachats.
The Beacon first reported the boards’ approval of the affiliation on Oct. 22, 2025, in Samaritan, MultiCare Approve Affiliation. At that time the systems projected a mid-2026 close pending regulatory review, and the story highlighted the potential for equipment upgrades at Newport and Waldport clinics plus expanded mental-health access in a rural area strained by isolation and tourism. Monday’s OHA conditional approval advances that timeline, with closing now targeted for early in the fourth quarter of this year, according to the release.
The MultiCare investment also arrives as Oregon landed $197.3 million in initial federal rural-health transformation funds for 2026, a development the Beacon covered in Oregon Lands $197.3M in Federal Rural Health Funds. Those federal dollars, combined with the $700 million private commitment, are expected to ease the cost-increase and reimbursement-gap pressures that have strained the two Lincoln County hospitals serving roughly 50,000 residents.
The release emphasized that patients will see no immediate changes. Appointments, providers, pharmacies, MyChart access and accepted insurance plans remain the same. Samaritan Health Plans will continue operating as they do now through at least 2027. Samaritan will stay locally led, with decisions about services and community needs still made in Oregon. The systems will continue operating independently until closing.
Samaritan serves more than 280,000 people across Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties with five hospitals, clinics and health plans. MultiCare operates 13 hospitals and more than 300 care sites across Washington. Both organizations emphasized that this is an affiliation, not a traditional merger or acquisition: Samaritan keeps its name, local board and operational focus.
Full details, frequently asked questions and the original affiliation materials remain available at samhealth.org/Affiliation. Questions can also be directed to [email protected].
The Beacon will continue following the final steps to closing and any specific local investment plans for North Lincoln and Pacific Communities hospitals as they are released.
