St. Charles will be dropping scheduled surgeries in Prineville, night and weekend procedures in Redmond

(Update: Adding video, comments from St. Charles official, Prineville resident)

Changes begin June 1; some patients will need to go to other hospitals 'for the foreseeable future'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- St. Charles Health System confirmed Friday it is dropping or cutting back on surgeries at two of its campuses. The changes will impact the Redmond and Prineville hospitals. For some procedures, you can expect to be redirected or transfered to other hospitals.

"Nationally and locally, health care organizations are still challenged by a variety of resource constraints," said Christy McLeod, St. Charles' vice president of cardiac and surgical services.

McLeod explained why St. Charles is eliminating or reducing surgery services in Prineville and Redmond. 

Starting in June, the Prineville campus will discontinue its two days a week of scheduled surgery procedures, like colonoscopies. Patients will need to be seen at either Redmond, Madras or Bend for the foreseeable future, the hospital system said.

That displeased some Prineville residents who heard the news Friday.  

Korey Ligatich said, "If I have to get a surgery, I don't want to go to another town to do so."

For the Redmond campus, where night and weekend surgeries are being dropped, officials said the majority of planned surgeries already happen during the week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and those will continue, but there will be a reduction of services in the emergency department. 

St. Charles Health officials say patients who come to the Redmond hospital and need emergency surgery at night or on the weekend will have to be transported to Bend. 

The patients from Redmond who need surgery which is not urgent will have the option of being admitted to St. Charles Redmond and having the surgery  during the week. 

"Our surgeons are still on call, so there still will be surgery consults for patients who present, maybe if they come into the ED (Emergency Department)," McLeod said. "The process, those surgical consultations generally happen over the phone to begin with with the ED providers, and that will continue to happen."

She said it's become routine for patients to be transfered from one hospital to another, but some patients may be concerned about the cost of an ambulance, if needed.  

Regional EMS makes transfers between hospitals, and McLeod said St. Charles is also talking to independent transportation companies regarding added medical transportation. 

"The last few years have taught us that health care is an increasingly complex business, and it is increasingly more and more difficult to understand," McLeod said. "I think what's really important for us is that we have as minimal disruption to patients as possible." 

St. Charles Bend will continue to operate for emergency procedures 24/7/4 hours every day of the year. The changes in Prineville and Redmond take effect June 1. 

St. Charles first confirmed the changes Thursday in response to questions from NewsChannel 21, which were prompted by an email we received. Here is their answer, in full:

"Nationally and locally, health care organizations continue to be challenged by a variety of resource constraints, including surgical and anesthesia resources. To that end, St. Charles is making changes to surgeries taking place on the St. Charles Prineville and Redmond campuses. For the vast majority of patients, these changes will not impact the services they receive. 

"In early June, St. Charles Prineville will discontinue its current two days a week of scheduled surgical procedures, which are mainly colonoscopies and other procedures. Those surgeries can be accommodated at St. Charles Redmond, St. Charles Madras or St. Charles Bend for the foreseeable future.

"In Redmond, the vast majority of surgeries already occur between the weekday hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and that will continue as it does today. In addition, patients presenting to Redmond who need surgery, but the surgery is not urgent, still have the option of being admitted to the hospital and having the surgery during the weekday surgical times.

"Patients who present in Redmond requiring emergency surgery on nights and weekends will have their surgery in Bend, where a team of surgeons are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," the statement concluded.