Nonprofit health systems MultiCare and Samaritan Health Services completed their merger on Sunday, the companies announced.
Tacoma, Washington-based MultiCare, which operated 13 hospitals in the region before the merger, will invest $700 million over a decade into Samaritan and its five hospitals and network of primary care and specialty clinics in Oregon, according to the announcement.
Under the affiliation, Samaritan will keep its name, alongside MultiCare branding. It will also retain its local leadership, and Samaritan leaders are now part of MultiCare’s system governance, an FAQ on the deal states.
“MultiCare brings expertise and resources that will help us meet the changing healthcare needs of our region and support our clinicians and employees in their work every day,” Marty Cahill, Samaritan president and CEO, said in the press release. “We move forward with a deep commitment to our communities and confidence in what we can accomplish together.”
Cahill is also now senior vice president and CEO of Multicare’s Oregon Coast to Cascades division, according to the announcement.
The systems announced their intent to merge last fall. At the time, Samaritan said that “strengthening Samaritan’s long-term financial stability” was one of the primary drivers for the deal, as the system faced pressure from rising costs, lower reimbursement rates and workforce shortages.
In August, Samaritan announced it had received approval on the deal from the Oregon Health Authority and was working toward an Oct. 1 closing date. That date was pushed back a month, and regulators approved the final elements of the deal — which involved Samaritan’s health plans — in October, according to the Lincoln Chronicle.
“For patients and families, the promise of this affiliation is better access to the care they need,” Florence Chang, president of MultiCare, said in the announcement.
Nonprofit hospitals are being hit especially hard as federal funding cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act loom. Medicaid-dependent and low-rated nonprofits could especially feel the brunt of incoming financial pressures, according to Fitch Ratings. And hospitals writ large are feeling a strain as the uninsured population grows.
