<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2xMDTe_1DqzBV8C00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2xMDTe_1DqzBV8C00" width="1080" height="720" ><figcaption>Asante's Work Health facility on Black Oak Drive will close to physical therapy as will outpatient rehabilitation clinics in Medford and Grants Pass on Aug. 28. (Courtesy photo/Ruby Scott)</figcaption></figure>Asante to close Medford and Grants Pass outpatient rehab facilities; nurse’s union launches ‘Save Rogue Regional’ websiteA growing list of changes to Asante-run facilities in Southern Oregon will affect outpatient rehabilitation and physical, occupational and speech therapy for patients recovering from injuries, surgeries, neurological conditions and chronic illnesses, according to employee interviews conducted by the Rogue Valley Times.Effective Aug. 28, Asante officials have confirmed closure of outpatient rehab facilities in Medford — on Black Oak Drive — and in Grants Pass.The announcement comes on the heels of a list of closures this year across Asante’s medical care portfolio in Southern Oregon and Northern California, where the health system services 600,000 people throughout the region. They include the shuttering of Asante’s Ashland Community Hospital, which was transitioned into an outpatient Asante campus this year; the January announcement that contracts would not be renewed for Medford’s Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center’s nine NICU doctors; and termination, effective February 2027, of a contract with 28 doctors who work for Southern Oregon Hospitalists, which has contracted with the Medford hospital since 2003.Employees and patients who spoke to the Times voiced concerns about growing uncertainty from the region’s largest healthcare provider for community members and Asante’s estimated 6,000 employees.Asante officials have cited rising operating costs, stringent restrictions imposed by state officials and reduced reimbursement from Medicaid and Medicare as some of myriad reasons for ongoing “headwinds.”Rehab facility staff who contacted the Times said the latest closure in particular would leave vulnerable patients without needed therapy to ensure successful outcomes following surgeries or other inpatient care, as well as prevention of more serious conditions often caught by therapists.Several rehab clinic staff who spoke to the Times and requested anonymity out of fear of retribution — because of personal concerns about their employment — said the facilities are among the few in the region that accept low-income patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid, meaning that closure will impact access to care for vulnerable patients.Providers who spoke to the Times estimated about 90 to 100 employees are employed between the two outpatient rehab locations, with the Medford facility serving 160 to 180 patients per day and Grants Pass reportedly seeing 100 to 120 patients per day. The Medford facility, according to staff, maintains a waitlist of more than 1,000 patients waiting to receive services.Employees of both the Medford and Grants Pass rehab facilities said that Asante officials have not disclosed severance agreements, and they said that employees had reportedly been told by middle management that those who apply for alternative inpatient positions will lose severance packages if hired elsewhere in the Asante system, and also if they are offered another job and decline the position.“We were told verbally and in writing that we will receive severance info on the last week or day of our employment, which means we won’t know if we have medical coverage for September until it is possibly too late,” a full-time therapist who works for the Grants Pass facility told the Times, requesting anonymity out of fear of retribution.“We were also told if we are offered an inpatient position in the hospital, but decline it, we will lose our severance,” the employee said. “Seven people have applied to three-and-a-half positions.”While Asante officials have largely declined to be directly interviewed by local media, spokesperson Desirae Myers on Thursday referred media requests to Asante’s “FAQ” pages; published letters by Asante CEO Tom Gessel; and a recently posted report by the Hospital Association of Oregon titled, “A Fraying Safety Net: Oregon Hospitals in Crisis.”The report outlines how Oregon hospitals are being “pushed to the brink by chronic underfunding, rising costs, mounting regulatory burden and growing financial pressures,” Asante officials posted to social media when sharing the study.In his letters to employees, posted online in May, June and July, Gessel cited ongoing challenges that include increasing operating costs and excessive regulations from state government to dwindling reimbursement levels for Medicare and Medicaid patients amid a record-low number of patients covered by private insurance. The CEO, in his May letter, reported a cumulative operating loss of $16 million for the first half of the fiscal year.On the FAQ portion dedicated to the rehab facility closures, Asante officials reference the availability of “community-based independent, experienced rehabilitation providers that already serve both Jackson and Josephine counties” and speak of continued pursuit of “every cost-saving opportunity available to us to protect our core clinical services for the community.”A therapist employed at the Medford rehab facility who spoke to the Times anonymously said claims on Asante’s FAQ page don’t align with reality and that current upper management, several of whom have moved from or still reside outside of the area, have impacted Asante culture in recent years.The employee said claims that Asante is finding alternative providers for patients and assisting employees with finding new jobs are untrue.Asante officials’ claims that closure was a cost-saving measure were challenged by a therapist for the Medford facility who also spoke to the Times anonymously out of employment concerns, who said, “PT is designed to keep people out of the hospital — to keep people from surgeries they don’t need and to identify issues before they become more serious.”Beyond the rehab facility closure, those interviewed by the Times expressed concern about continued cutbacks, declining employee morale and an overall cultural shift.“At this rate, it feels like the goal is to bankrupt Asante,” the therapist claimed. “I honestly think we’d be giving them too much credit to assume they’re deciding any of this, or that it’s intentional.“I think nobody is in charge, and they don’t know what the (expletive) they’re doing,” the employee told the Times. “They hired four new people who bought houses and moved their families here in the last three months … one of them was hired last week. She got her welcome email the hour after they fired us all.”<h2>ONA launches site</h2>In response to closure of the two outpatient rehab facilities and ongoing concerns over staffing levels, patient access to care and Asante’s transparency with the public, the Oregon Nurses Association launched a website dubbed “Save Rogue Regional” on Thursday.ONA spokesman Peter Starzynski said ongoing cuts and closures are further evidence that Asante “continues to prioritize executive compensation over investments in the frontline caregivers and services our community depends on.”“SaveRogueRegional.org is a new community campaign led by frontline healthcare professionals, patients, and community leaders, including Rogue Regional nurses and healthcare techs. The campaign aims to shine a light on the growing threats facing Southern Oregon’s healthcare system and give community members a voice in protecting their local hospital,” Starzynski wrote to the Times.“Supporters are calling on Asante to put patients before profits by investing in safe staffing and high-quality care, being transparent with the community, and including frontline healthcare professionals in decisions that directly affect patient care. Southern Oregon deserves a healthcare system that puts patients first. SaveRogueRegional.org gives patients, caregivers, and community members the opportunity to stand together and fight for the future of Rogue Regional Medical Center and the healthcare our region deserves.”Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.</div></body>

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Asante to close Medford and Grants Pass outpatient rehab facilities; nurse’s union launches ‘Save Rogue Regional’ website. A growing list of changes to Asante-run facilities in Southern Oregon will affect outpatient rehabilitation and physical, occupational and speech therapy for patients recovering from injuries, surgeries, neurological conditions and chronic illnesses, according to employee interviews conducted by the Rogue Valley Times.

Latest Asante cuts leave patients, employees facing more uncertainty

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Asante to close Medford and Grants Pass outpatient rehab facilities; nurse’s union launches ‘Save Rogue Regional’ website. A growing list of changes to Asa

Latest Asante cuts leave patients, employees facing more uncertainty

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