Friday, May 16, 2025
5/16/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - • 525 N Santiam Highway, Lebanon, OR 97355 • Project Director, Mary Landis • Phone: 541-768-5908 • Email: mlandis@samhealth.org • Website: https://www.samhealth.org/find-a-location/s/samaritan-lebanon-community-hospital • Grant program funds requested: $1,000,000 Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital (SLCH) requests congressional funding to support the purchase of moveable equipment essential for a new 17,000 square foot family medicine and urgent care clinic in Sweet Home, Oregon. The Sweet Home Clinic and Urgent Care Center will serve the residents of east Linn County, including Sweet Home and the surrounding smaller communities. The new facility will also serve travelers and recreationists along the 56 miles of Highway 20 stretching from Sweet Home to Santiam Pass, as well as the surrounding National Forests. Sweet Home is an under resourced, rural community, where over 20% of residents live in poverty (US Census, 2022). Eighteen percent of residents live below the poverty line, compared with 12% for the state of Oregon (US Census, 2022). The median household income in Sweet Home is $45,424, compared with $65,667 for Oregon. Only 80% of residents over the age 18 have a high school diploma (92% for Oregon) and 8% of residents over 25 have a bachelor’s degree (35% for Oregon). Over 21% of Sweet Home residents under age 65 have a disability, compared with 10% statewide. Thirty-four percent of current Sweet Home Family Medicine patients are low-income and insured by Medicaid/Oregon Health Plan and 39% are Medicare/Medicare replacement. Sweet Home is located within a designated Health Professional Shortage Area for Primary Care, Dental, and Mental Health (Oregon Office of Rural Health). Sweet Home Family Medicine, the local primary care clinic has long been at capacity, with a wait time for new patients of 28 days. There is not physical space at the current facility to support hiring additional providers. The nearest after-hours medical care is located over 30 minutes away – or almost an hour for more rural residents and requires access to a car and money for gas, which can be an insurmountable hurdle for many community members. Local pharmacy services are limited. Specialty services are not available locally, requiring a drive to Lebanon or, depending on the specialty, to Corvallis, which is an hour away. The new facility will: • Increase space available to see patients by more than 7,000 sq. ft., resulting in seven additional family medicine exam rooms, three additional urgent care exam rooms, and space to add additional clinicians over time • Offer after-hours care, with the goal of being open seven days a week • Provide local access to Primary Care, Anticoagulation, Urgent Care, Pharmacy, Laboratory, and Radiology services • Provide Telehealth services for mental health, cardiac, and orthopedic consultations • Support air medical transport services with an onsite helipad, enabling rapid access to care when motor vehicle or other accidents occur on the remote sections of Highway 20, logging roads, backcountry trails, or rivers that draw recreationists to the area Moveable equipment that will be purchased will include essential medical equipment such as AED, urine analyzer, crash cart, centrifuge, defibrillator, EKG, and x-ray machine; Furnishings and other supplies such as Biohazard bins, phlebotomy chair, desks, file cabinets, liquid nitrogen tank, partial panels, medication refrigerator, medication safe, and breakroom tables; and IT equipment such as printers, laptops, PCs, monitors, and scanners. The new facility will address the clinician shortage and appointment wait times, improve access to pharmacy and specialty services, provide after-hours medical care. Sweet Home Family Medicine and Urgent Care Center will significantly improve access to quality medical care for the families of east Linn County.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).