Corvallis-based Samaritan Health Services announced this week it is integrating with a larger health system based in Washington state, months after an earlier consolidation effort with a different entity fell through.
Samaritan, which runs five hospitals and numerous clinics—from Lebanon and Albany west through Corvallis and to the coast—says it hopes to finalize its deal with the Tacoma-based MultiCare Health System by summer 2026.
The affiliation, Samaritan says, will enable it to remain a locally led and governed community-based health system, and retain its name, “while gaining access to new resources and expertise.”
The deal must still be approved by state and federal regulators. In a statement, the Oregon Nurses Association urged regulators to take a hard look at this transaction to “ensure it is in the best interest of those communities and will not result in cuts to services, layoffs, and higher costs.” An ONA spokesperson said the union represents about 1,000 nurses at four of Samaritan’s five hospitals.
Both entities are nonprofits. MultiCare, which has 13 hospitals and more than 300 clinics throughout Washington, reports 28,000 employees, compared to Samaritan Health Services’ 5,000.
Samaritan reports about $1 billion in assets. It operated at a significant loss in its 2024 fiscal year, the latest on record. According to a recent ratings agency report, a bank told the health system it had failed to maintain an income-to-debt-service ratio required by a loan agreement. Even factoring in investment income, the system reported a net income of negative $68 million, according to audited financial statements. (In the previous fiscal years, 2022 and 2023, Samaritan reported earning less than $1 million and then $26 million, respectively).
MultiCare, in contrast, reports about $8.2 billion in assets. While in recent years it, too, has lost money on its operations, separate income has carried it well into the black. After a large loss in 2022, it reported net incomes around $500 million in each of the past two fiscal years.
Asked what role Samaritan’s financial situation played in the deal with MultiCare, a spokesperson said the Samaritan board reviewed various options as it sought a path that allowed Samaritan not only to sustain care today, but thrive in the future.
“Like many community-based nonprofit health systems, Samaritan’s operating margins remain below the national benchmark typically needed to sustain long-term capital investment and growth,” the spokesperson, Evonne Walls, tells WW. “While we’ve made meaningful progress in improving financial performance over the past year, the scale required to fund major infrastructure needs—or access the bond market on favorable terms—would be difficult to achieve alone.”
As part of the agreement, MultiCare has committed to invest resources over the next 10 years to modernize Samaritan’s facilities, grow primary and specialty care, and introduce new technologies and telehealth capabilities “that improve access, patient experience and help lower the cost of care,” according to a joint news release.
The parties say the investment also includes plans to expand Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis by adding inpatient capacity. And they say the affiliation will bring MultiCare’s behavioral health network—the largest in Washington—into Samaritan’s service area.
Samaritan earlier pursued an affiliation with a different smaller health system, Santiam Hospital & Clinics. The parties announced in May that, after a year of exploring the deal, they had decided against joining together after all.
As the deal moves forward, nothing will change at Samaritan for now, Walls said, when asked about the potential of layoffs or facility closures.
“Like most health systems, we are operating in a challenging health care environment, but this affiliation is about growth and improvement, not reduction,” Walls writes. “We expect the need for dedicated, talented team members to remain strong, and any future changes would be approached thoughtfully and transparently, with a focus on strengthening patient care and supporting our workforce.”
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