{"id":65565,"date":"2025-12-18T12:34:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T20:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/?p=65565"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:18:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:18:25","slug":"open-letter-to-our-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/news\/open-letter-to-our-community\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Our Community\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article\">\n\t<header class=\"header\">\n\t\t<span class=\"type\"><\/span>\t\t<h1>An Open Letter to Our Community\u00a0<\/h1>\t\t<time>December 18, 2025<\/time>\n\t<\/header>\n\t<div id=\"block_ba0aa6af301682357468bcc6cc6be48f\" class=\"shs-block block-news-article entry-content\">\n\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From CEO &amp; President Marty Cahill Regarding the Temporary Pause of OB-GYN Services in Lebanon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Pregnancy and childbirth are deeply personal experiences.\u00a0Feeling safe, supported and confident\u00a0in your care\u00a0matters \u2013 especially when welcoming a new life.\u00a0At Samaritan Health Services, the safety\u00a0of\u00a0parents\u00a0and babies has always been \u2013 and will always be \u2013 our highest priority.\u00a0Because of that, we want to\u00a0share an important update with openness, humility and care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, many in our community were\u00a0understandably concerned\u00a0about the possibility of the Girod Birth Center at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital (SLCH)\u00a0closing.\u00a0Those conversations created fear and uncertainty, and we know some trust was shaken.\u00a0At that time, no decisions had been made. We listened closely,\u00a0held more than 70 listening sessions,\u00a0and\u00a0in August\u00a0publicly reaffirmed our commitment to\u00a0providing\u00a0labor and delivery services at all five Samaritan hospitals \u2013 including here in Lebanon.\u00a0<strong>That commitment\u00a0has not changed<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are now facing an unplanned and difficult&nbsp;challenge. This fall, all&nbsp;OB-GYN&nbsp;physicians providing care&nbsp;in&nbsp;Lebanon resigned for personal reasons. At the same time, another regional provider made the decision to discontinue&nbsp;OB-GYN&nbsp;services in Corvallis. These changes, combined with the nationwide shortage of&nbsp;OB-GYN&nbsp;physicians, created a sudden and significant loss of coverage across the Valley.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since learning\u00a0about\u00a0these departures, our teams have\u00a0worked\u00a0urgently\u00a0to\u00a0find solutions.\u00a0We\u00a0significantly\u00a0expanded recruitment\u00a0efforts\u00a0already underway\u00a0to include\u00a0a broad national search,\u00a0outreach to physician\u00a0staffing agencies,\u00a0independent clinicians\u00a0and\u00a0temporary coverage options. Despite these efforts, we have not yet\u00a0been\u00a0able to\u00a0secure the\u00a0physicians needed to safely support deliveries\u00a0in Lebanon.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After careful review \u2013 and with nurses, physicians and clinical leaders deeply involved in the discussion \u2013 we reached\u00a0a difficult conclusion. Without continuous, around-the-clock physician coverage, it would not be safe to continue labor and delivery services.\u00a0Operating on and off, or being on diversion, would mean families would not know when it is safe to come to the hospital. That uncertainty creates real risk for parents, babies and care teams.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For that reason, and with patient safety as our guiding principle,&nbsp;<strong>labor and delivery services at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital will be temporarily paused&nbsp;beginning January 15, 2026<\/strong>.&nbsp;Outpatient&nbsp;OB-GYN&nbsp;care&nbsp;will continue&nbsp;at the Lebanon Health Center on a limited basis. We are hopeful that temporary&nbsp;clinician&nbsp;staffing may allow&nbsp;deliveries to&nbsp;safely resume&nbsp;as early as April 2026, though this depends on successfully securing coverage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, pregnant patients who are anticipating delivery after mid-January should work&nbsp;with their doctor to select a different delivery location. Labor and delivery services at Samaritan\u2019s other hospitals will continue without disruption.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We know this news&nbsp;is difficult.&nbsp;During this temporary pause&nbsp;we are taking&nbsp;concrete&nbsp;steps to support families and staff:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Providing&nbsp;concierge&nbsp;support&nbsp;to help&nbsp;expectant parents transition care to Albany or Corvallis&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ensuring systems&nbsp;and protocols&nbsp;are in place for safe, timely&nbsp;transfers if urgent situations arise&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Keeping our highly skilled&nbsp;labor and delivery&nbsp;nurses onsite to&nbsp;assist the&nbsp;Emergency Department&nbsp;with any obstetric emergencies&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Partnering with Oregon Nurses Association\u00a0to\u00a0explore\u00a0temporary staffing\u00a0solutions and redeployment opportunities for our nurses during this period \u2013 no\u00a0layoffs will occur\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We also want to be clear about what this is \u2013 and what it is not. This is not a closure of the Girod Birth Center. It is not a reversal of our commitment to Lebanon, and it is not related to earlier consolidation discussions or the proposed affiliation. This pause is temporary and based solely on patient safety and the current workforce reality.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&nbsp;remain&nbsp;fully committed to restoring labor and delivery services in Lebanon as soon&nbsp;as it is safe for us to do so.&nbsp;In the meantime, pregnant patients should plan to use the birth centers in Albany or Corvallis.&nbsp;We will continue to&nbsp;provide&nbsp;updates and share progress&nbsp;as we work toward restoring&nbsp;labor and delivery services.&nbsp;&nbsp;For more information and FAQs, please visit <a href=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/news\/temporary-pause-for-lebanon-labor-and-delivery-services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">samhealth.org\/LebanonOB-GYN<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for the trust you place in\u00a0us.\u00a0We know trust is earned through actions, not words \u2013 and we are committed\u00a0to demonstrating that every day.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With sincerity,&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marty&nbsp;Cahill&nbsp;<br>President &amp; CEO&nbsp;<br>Samaritan Health Services<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<aside>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marty-Cahill-CEO-2025-CO.jpg\" class=\"attachment-cta size-cta wp-post-image\" alt=\"Marty Cahill, CEO and President of Samaritan Health Services.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marty-Cahill-CEO-2025-CO.jpg 360w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marty-Cahill-CEO-2025-CO-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marty-Cahill-CEO-2025-CO-120x100.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/figure>\t\t<\/aside>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read the open letter to our community from Samaritan CEO Marty Cahill about the temporary pause of OB-GYN services in Lebanon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":65563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_shs_workflow_notes":"","_shs_exclude_from_navigation":false,"_shs_promote_article_on_blogs":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"news-topics":[491,286,294],"news-types":[272],"services":[252],"specialty":[80,36],"class_list":["post-65565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","news-topics-about","news-topics-pregnancy","news-topics-womens-health","news-types-news","services-obstetrics-gynecology","specialty-midwifery","specialty-obstetrics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65565"},{"taxonomy":"news-topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topics?post=65565"},{"taxonomy":"news-types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-types?post=65565"},{"taxonomy":"services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services?post=65565"},{"taxonomy":"specialty","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/specialty?post=65565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}