Sustainable Services Across Our Community
Women & Children

Why This Program?

There is a national shortage of OB/GYN physicians. This makes recruitment and retention of physicians challenging. Samaritan currently has five openings for OB/GYN physicians. Some of the openings have been posted for longer than 12 months. Because of this, Samaritan must contract with temporary physicians and Labor & Delivery nurses to provide the necessary coverage. Temporary coverage and staffing are very expensive.

Samaritan is exploring ways to:

  • Improve patient access to outpatient services.
  • Expand the services offered.
  • Improve clinician recruitment.
  • Reduce the burden of being on call for our clinicians.
  • Improve the quality of care.
  • Pool our limited resources.
  • Reduce our reliance on temporary staffing.

The Way Forward

  • Deliveries will continue at all five Samaritan hospitals. These services will be supported within available staffing, with a strong focus on reducing reliance on temporary agency providers.
  • Samaritan will establish a systemwide OB/GYN practice to enhance collaboration and continuity of care, so that services are coordinated seamlessly across our hospitals and providers.
  • Our care teams will be encouraged and supported in continued innovation to sustain delivery services across the region, including partnering with community resources and cross-training team members for broader support roles where appropriate.
  • Progress will be monitored quarterly, with reassessment planned for summer/fall 2026 to ensure services remain viable and responsive to community needs.

2024 Data & Demographics

Clinical Statistics

  • 43,000 clinic visits.
  • 1,750 surgical cases.
  • 1,849 deliveries across Samaritan’s five hospitals:
    • Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center: 972
    • Samaritan Albany General Hospital: 405
    • Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital: 226
    • Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital: 127
    • Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital: 119
  • 78% of deliveries in our service area occurred at Samaritan hospitals. 
  • Residents who receive care out of the area do so due to high-risk pregnancy/birth circumstances or personal preference.
  • Number of days with no deliveries in 2024:
    • Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital: 260 days.
    • Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital: 256 days.
    • Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital: 193 days.
    • Samaritan Albany General Hospital: 122 days.
    • Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center: 25 days.

In total, there were 856 hospital days, when mandatory staffing was required despite no deliveries. This resulted in an estimated cost of $10 million. Hospitals are not reimbursed for these costs. The direct loss on obstetric services totaled $7.8 million, accounting for all deliveries at Samaritan hospitals.

Staffing

  • Even when there are no patients, each birth center must meet a mandatory staffing obligation 24 hours a day, every day of the year and have active availability of numerous wrap-around service capabilities. 
  • To ensure coverage at all times, many of our providers are routinely on call one of every two or three days. 
  • Call burden negatively impacts recruitment and retention. By creating regional groups, the call burden would be significantly reduced.
  • 20 OB/GYN providers are currently employed.
  • Additional positions are under recruitment.

Geographical Considerations

East Linn County

  • Two-thirds of residents had their babies delivered outside of Lebanon. For those who delivered elsewhere:
  • 24% delivered at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.
  • 20% delivered at Samaritan Albany General Hospital.
  • The drive from Lebanon to Corvallis or Albany ranges from 14 to 21 miles, approximately 25 to 35 minutes.

North Lincoln County

  • 77% of residents (69 people) who had a baby chose to deliver at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital.
  • The distance from North Lincoln to Newport is 28 miles. Travel times range from 45 to 90 minutes depending on conditions.
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