Our History
Watch and Learn about Samaritan’s Tradition of Caring
About Samaritan Health Services
Our Journey to Becoming an Integrated System
Each of Samaritan’s five hospitals can chronicle its caring service to the community. The history of the regional network that is today called Samaritan Health Services is now more than a decade old.
Born of a common mission to provide exemplary health care and keep decision-making local, Lebanon’s Mid-Valley Healthcare and Corvallis’ Samaritan, Inc. were the first to merge in 1997 to form the nonprofit Samaritan Health Services. The merger reflected the belief that an integrated organization would serve their communities more effectively and efficiently.
Two years later, they were joined by Albany’s FirstCare Health, which included a hospital, physicians group and outpatient services.
By 2002 Samaritan expanded to include the central Oregon Coast. Samaritan now operates hospitals in Lincoln City and Newport as part of long-term management contracts with the North Lincoln Health District in Lincoln City and the Pacific Communities Health District in Newport.
Today the five Samaritan-affiliated hospitals – together with associated physician clinics and several health plans – continue to serve their local communities while working to “build healthier communities together.”
Staying Nimble to Address Community Health Care Needs
With the communities across the region working together, Samaritan was able to grow their network of clinics and programs to form Samaritan Heart & Vascular Institute, the Samaritan Cancer Program, Samaritan Mental Health, Samaritan Heartspring Wellness Centers, Samaritan Evergreen Hospice House, the Samaritan Early Learning Center, SamFit, and much more.
Samaritan’s commitment to education and lifelong learning helped form robust medical education programs in partnership with Linn-Benton Community College, Oregon State University, Oregon Health & Science University and Western University of Health Sciences. In a truly unique partnership between Samaritan and Western University of Health Sciences, the first class of 100 osteopathic medical students began studies in 2011 on a 54-acre health sciences campus in Lebanon. The college of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest was the first new medical school in Oregon in more than 100 years.
Helping Transform Health Care Delivery
Samaritan is actively involved in planning for the future of health care.
Oregon’s 2011 Health Transformation Bill created opportunities to integrate care for Oregon Health Plan members within Coordinated Care Organizations. We are part of the InterCommunity Health Network Coordinated Care Organization (IHN-CCO) which serves our region. The IHN-CCO includes local public, private and non-profit partners working to redesign how health care is delivered and to unify health services and systems for Oregon Health Plan members in Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties.