Over the past several weeks, rumors about the future of Philomath Family Medicine have been swirling amid financial challenges and the proposed sale of The Corvallis Clinic to UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Oregon.
More than 350 public comments were submitted to the state about the transaction with many expressing fears of the resulting fallout. Patients in town have been concerned about local health-care access, even losing their doctors, and the possibility of unwanted changes in service.
A few days ago, state regulators ruled that The Corvallis Clinic, which operates Philomath Family Medicine and 10 other locations around the region, could proceed immediately on the sale without further review. On March 8, the clinic group’s local ownership requested that the state issue an emergency exemption to the oversight program based on the financial crisis at hand. The request was granted Wednesday.
Sarah Bartelmann, Health Care Market Oversight Program manager, wrote that the sale qualified for the emergency exemption by the state because the clinic’s current situation “immediately threatens health care services” and that “the transaction is urgently needed to protect the interest of consumers and to preserve the solvency of an entity other than a domestic health insurer.”
According to the decision, the clinic and Optum both said the proposed sale would “stabilize and increase The Corvallis Clinic’s ability to provide improved patient access and would preserve primary care and specialty access.”
In other words, if this didn’t happen, The Corvallis Clinic faced closure, or at least layoffs and reduced services. The move provides the clinic with access to working capital to continue to pay rent, payroll and other expenses.
The Health Care Market Oversight Program has been in place for just a few years as a result of the State Legislature wanting to make sure such deals don’t lead to a level of health-care services that would hurt the public.
A lot of complexities are involved with this whole situation. It appears that the clinic is safe for now. Could there be cutbacks or decisions in the future that threaten the Philomath site? Stay tuned.
2. Black pioneer artifacts in Philomath
The Benton County Historical Society’s vast collection of artifacts includes a staggering number of items — many that came into the organization’s possession following its acquisition of the Oregon State University Horner Museum collection in 2008.
The latest items stored safely in the Peter and Rosalie Johnson Collections Center, which is located adjacent to Philomath Museum, come from Oregon Black Pioneers. It’s a small but historically significant collection.
According to a post earlier this month by the group, their “materials require special preservation, but we haven’t always been able to provide them with museum-quality care,” adding that they had previously been housed in a self-storage facility.
“Thanks to the (Philomath) Museum and our University of Washington Museology intern Taylor Schoenfeld, our collection is now properly inventoried and cared for in state-of-the-art museum storage, awaiting the day Oregon Black Pioneers has our own exhibition space,” OBP wrote on its website.
The collection includes a Southern Pacific Railroad brakeman’s cap, salt-and-pepper shakers, an optometrist’s suitcase, a United Pacific Railroad brass spittoon, an engraved lighter and a “Horse Collar” electric shuffleboard game used at the Hot ‘n Tot Tavern in Portland in the 1930s.
Oregon Black Pioneers has developed an interesting connection to Philomath over the past few years. The executive director, Gwen Carr, gave a Zoom program in September 2020. Philomath hosted its Black in Oregon exhibit in early 2021. Carr and her granddaughter spoke at Philomath High School in 2022. And the Reuben Shipley family historical marker became a reality in July 2022 through the partnership of local partners and OBP.
Just recently, OBP’s Zachary Stocks was in town for a screening of the “Buffalo Soldiers” documentary, which included a Q-and-A with the film’s director.
3. Students share their visions for mayor
Philomath Mayor Chas Jones brought back the “If I Were Mayor” contest this year and announced winners at the most-recent City Council meeting. The mayor received entries in the middle school essay contest category from the sixth- and seventh-grade language arts students in the classroom of Cathleen Oefelein.
Ava Oster was announced as the winner with second place going to Ruby Oster. Six submissions were received.
The Oregon Mayors Association each year hosts the statewide contest, which begins at the local level with community entries. The winning entries will be submitted to the League of Oregon Cities to compete for statewide prizes and recognition.
Here are a few highlights from Ava Oster’s winning entry, which the mayor read aloud at the March 11 council meeting:
• “Philomath has good rodeo grounds, but the population is continually growing, and we might need more space. The rodeo grandstands burnt down not too long ago, and I believe that they should be rebuilt for the comfort of all the guests, but also for the town to not have a bad reputation.”
• Earth Day is usually not regarded as a super famous holiday, but it is important, so why don’t we make it important by helping our earth and planting trees all together?”
• “One thing that every city needs is a grocery store. I don’t mean the fast general store, that is great if you need a quick gift or snack. I mean an actual grocery store. … A grocery store would make people happier about saving gas in their cars, and money in their wallets, and it would help the spread and development of Philomath, making it more seen than it is now, being in the shadow of Corvallis.”
Jones thanked the middle school teacher for encouraging students in her class to participate. Councilor Christopher McMorran’s sense of humor then surfaced and suggested that the mayor tell Ava that the city listened and an exciting project is upcoming at the rodeo grounds.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).