St. Charles to close Bend women’s clinic

Just a year and a half after its launch, St. Charles Health System is closing its Center for Women’s Health in Bend, citing “unforeseen staffing changes.”

In a letter to patients last week, St. Charles Medical Group President John Weinsheim said those unspecified staffing changes “have required that we assess our capacity to provide the care our patients need.”

“After doing so, we have made the very difficult decision to suspend all services at the clinic,” Weinsheim wrote. “The changes are not immediate, but will occur incrementally over the next few months.”

The letter went to the roughly 3,100 patients the clinic has seen since opening last year.

Weinsheim said they will help patients “make a seamless transition to a new practice,” and suggested they could instead go to the Center for Women’s Health in Redmond, which has five OB-GYN specialists and access to certified nurse midwives.”

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience,” Weinsheim wrote.

It was in February of 2015 that St. Charles Health System announced it would open the Bend facility on May 1 of last year, expanding on the concept already in place at the Redmond facility. It was to be staffed by four doctors and temporary located by the hospital, at 2600 NE Neff Road.

The centers’ Website indicates there is also a facility in Prineville that is open two days a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.