Local
Eleven Oregon hospitals join forces to cut costs and coordinate care
The Oregon Health Authority has approved a network of 11 rural hospitals that will jointly buy supplies and equipment, share data tools and coordinate clinical practices while remaining independently run. The group has sought $17.5 million in federal support over five years for shared services.
Eleven rural hospitals from the Oregon Coast and Eastern Oregon will work together in a new state-approved network intended to help them manage rising costs and staffing challenges without giving up local control.
The Oregon Health Authority approved the Cascades Rural High Value Network on Friday, Oct. 16. It is expected to be the first network of its kind in rural Oregon. The hospitals will remain independent but jointly own and operate the network.
The participating hospitals are in Coos Bay, Bandon, Coquille, Gold Beach, Reedsport, Lakeview, Burns, John Day, Heppner, La Grande and Enterprise. South Dakota-based Cibolo Health will manage the network.
The hospitals plan to combine their purchasing power for supplies and equipment, share data tools and have clinical teams exchange practices. Cibolo Chief of Staff Kylie Bucher said collective buying could help small hospitals secure prices typically available to larger systems. Shared data from insurers and patient records could also help identify patients at risk earlier, she said.
The network has requested $17.5 million over five years through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program. The proposed funding would support its shared data system, care coordinators and a hub for specialist referrals and patient transfers; the state has not announced that the full request has been awarded.
State approval requires the hospitals to remain independently owned and operated for at least five years. They may not share sensitive pricing information with one another and must issue annual progress reports.
Coos Bay’s Bay Area Hospital, the Oregon Coast’s largest hospital, is among the members. The hospital nearly turned over operations to Tennessee-based Quorum Health in 2024, but Quorum withdrew in August 2025 after community opposition and a change in hospital board leadership. Bay Area has remained independent.
Chief Financial Officer Patrick Banks said participation in the network will not change the hospital’s ownership or local governance. He said the effort is in its early stages and the hospital is not counting on it to directly improve its finances. Bay Area reported 10 consecutive months in the black in its October board packet and said it was on track to finish the fiscal year that way.
The hospital is also working to expand services, including orthopedics and interventional radiology, and plans to launch a cancer treatment program later this year. Patients seeking that treatment currently have to travel to Eugene, Medford or Portland.