Major Corvallis health provider to end OB-GYN services amid staffing shortages after Optum acquisition

A major health provider in the mid-Willamette Valley plans to end maternity and women’s health services early next year, leaving many patients worried about where they will turn for care.

The move at The Corvallis Clinic, recently taken over by the controversial Optum Inc., also renews scrutiny of corporate takeovers of local medical practices,

In letters mailed to patients this month, clinic managers said they have been losing OB-GYN doctors and haven’t been able to recruit replacements, prompting the decision to close the department on Feb. 12.

Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, acquired The Corvallis Clinic last year in a fast-tracked deal approved on an emergency basis that sidestepped the state’s usual regulatory review meant to protect local access to care. The Corvallis Clinic operates 11 clinics that serve thousands of patients across Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties.

The letter — signed by “The care team at The Corvallis Clinic, Part of Optum” — said the clinic has struggled to keep enough OB-GYN doctors on staff as providers retired or moved away, remaining doctors faced heavier workloads and a nationwide shortage made hiring new providers difficult.

“This was a tremendously hard decision,” the letter said. “Our top priority is ensuring a smooth and supportive transition of care.”

For some patients, the disruption feels anything but smooth.

The Corvallis Clinic is one of the largest primary and specialty providers in the mid-Willamette Valley, where women’s health services are already limited.

It’s unclear how many OB-GYN doctors are still on staff, how many plan to leave and how many of their patients — pregnant and not — will need to find alternative care. Neither officials with the Corvallis medical group nor Optum would say.

Michelle Calbreath, a 39-year-old Corvallis patient who is pregnant and due at the end of April, said she learned about the planned closure during a prenatal appointment in late November.

She said her doctor told her the clinic’s OB-GYN physicians planned to resign in February and advised her to begin looking for care elsewhere.

“It was really worrying,” Calbreath said. “I felt extremely comfortable with this clinic … and it’s so jarring to be told one day that your care just can’t continue because of forces completely outside your control.”

Alex Aljets, a Stayton resident who had all three of her children delivered by the same OB-GYN doctor at the clinic and is currently receiving postpartum care, said patients have been left scrambling to find care elsewhere — often in Salem, Eugene or Portland.

“When you’re pregnant or dealing with a serious health issue, that distance really matters,” she said. Aljets continued traveling about 45 minutes for care even after moving to Stayton because of the trust she built with her doctor and the difficulty of finding a new provider.

McKenzie Huber, a Corvallis resident and longtime patient at the clinic, said she worries about losing not only her OB-GYN doctor — someone she’s built deep trust with over the past decade — but also access to urgent and preventive women’s health care.

Last December, Huber had a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy and needed emergency surgery. She said her OB-GYN doctor was able to get her into the operating room the same day the condition was discovered — the kind of rapid access she fears may be harder to find locally if services shrink further.

“This isn’t abstract,” she said. “If you’re in labor and have to drive 20 or 30 minutes because local services are gone, that can be a matter of life or death.”

Huber said she would prefer to follow her OB-GYN physician to another practice, but she doesn’t yet know where the doctor will go or whether her insurance will cover it.

The closure has once again cast a spotlight on Optum’s growing footprint in Oregon health care.

The company controls several clinics, hundreds of doctors, hospices, home health agencies, ambulatory surgery centers and mail-order pharmacies across Oregon. Optum has defended its ownership model, saying it provides financial stability and administrative support that allow physicians to focus on medicine.

After Optum acquired Oregon Medical Group, a large Eugene-based multi-specialty provider, in 2020, the practice saw an exodus of physicians. The Oregonian/OregonLive previously reported that doctors cited burnout, moral distress and pressure to see more patients in less time. As physicians left, Oregon Medical Group ultimately shed thousands of patients.

Now, some patients and community members worry a similar dynamic is playing out in Corvallis.

Huber said it was already difficult to get appointments for routine exams at The Corvallis Clinic, with some preventive screenings booked out as far as a year because of staffing shortages.

“It feels like a crisis they created by not investing in the resources doctors need to do their jobs,” she said.

Representatives for Optum, The Corvallis Clinic’s parent company, did not respond to questions about whether the closure of the OB-GYN department is related to physicians resigning.

Dr. John Santa, a retired physician and former member of the board that oversees the Oregon Health Authority, said the situation in Corvallis reflects broader trends in health care consolidation, particularly when large corporations acquire physician practices and evaluate services through a financial lens.

“When for-profit companies come in, they look very closely at what services make money and what services don’t,” he said.

Santa said OB-GYN departments are especially vulnerable, particularly in smaller communities, because of physician shortages, high malpractice insurance costs and lower reimbursement rates for labor and delivery care.

“OB-GYN care is especially challenging financially. About half of all obstetrics patients in Oregon are covered by Medicaid, which pays less than commercial insurance,” he said. “If a service were making money, it’s very unlikely a company would just walk away from it.”