Nearly 80 individuals joined a Mid-Columbia Houseless Collaborative meeting on February 13 to learn about progress made toward its goals during 2023, review strategic plan updates, and get an overview of key activities and projects planned for 2024. One highlight was the connections the group is making in the region.

Dr. Winnifred Wong of Fairfield, Calif is set to become the Radiation Oncology Clinic Director at Mid Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles in September.

MCMC is facing significant financial challenges, and there are solvency concerns for the hospital if the transaction is not completed. Adventist will assume MCMC’s current financial obligations and has committed to investing $100 million of capital in MCMC over the next ten years. 

Adventist Health is in the process of purchasing Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles with promises of investing $100 million over the next ten years. Fierce Healthcare Just reported Adventist is laying off 59 administrators at its headquarters in Roseville, Calif. The money will be reinvested into its hospitals and clinics “to help realign directly where care is delivered.” Meanwhile, the buyout of MCMC is awaiting regulatory approvals from both the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Justice.

“Through this business deal, Adventist will become the new owner of MCMC,”  according to the notice summary  posted by the Oregon Health Authority “...Adventist says that MCMC will continue to provide its existing health care services, including reproductive health care.”

The move is just one of the latest as the Hospital is making moves to cut costs while trying to maintain service.

The Lund Report, a nonprofit, non-partisan news site, recently published a well-detailed report on the finances of both Mid-Columbia Medical Center and its possible future partner Adventist Health as the two could possibly have agreements in place to join forces by the end of 2022.

MCMC and OHSU formally ended several aspects of their collaborative agreement that will affect primary care, general surgery, orthopedics, endocrinology in weeks and months to come. It is the latest news about the local hospital that cut ties with OHSU Cardiology in August and has seen 14 clinicians leave the Medical Center in the past year.

In one stretch of the Delta surge, Dr. Tom Nichol has treated 17 patients in a row for COVID who were unvaccinated. Some of them died. It “was a really hard thing for me to see people marching on to die from this who would have survived if they’d had a vaccine.”

Local Nurses voted on Monday, Nov. 1, in favor of a contract with Mid-Columbia Medical Center that will give them a 10 percent pay increase during the next three years. And MCMC congratulated itself and the Oregon Nurses Association. It took 4 months of working out of contract and descriptions of burnout working conditions before the deal was made.

Wasco County Commissioner Steve Kramer implored those who are unvaccinated for COVID to use extreme caution today, Sept. 1 after it was pointed out that ICU beds in hospitals were reported full.

Several local clinics are teaming up to give children a healthy head start for the school year with checkups, immunization, even a free backpack with school supplies.

Four OHSU cardiologists are set to discontinue practicing in The Dalles after an agreement between MCMC and OHSU was abruptly ended earlier this month. Neither MCMC CEO Dennis Knox nor OHSU gave a definitive reason for the discontinuation of service. But the results of the decision are clear. Cardiologists are leaving.