The Surgery Center of Southern Oregon in Medford will close June 30 after Asante and the surgery center withdrew their requests for both standard approval and an emergency exemption from Oregon Health Authority’s Health Care Market Oversight review, ending any path for Asante to become the facility’s sole owner, the Rogue Valley Times reported.
Medford-based Asante, a partial owner of the ASC, began pursuing full ownership in October 2025 and submitted an emergency exemption request in April 2026 after a standard review stalled, partly because the organizations declined to provide all information OHA requested, including three years of payer contracts. On May 1, Asante and the center withdrew both requests before OHA reached a decision. Per state law, the transaction cannot move forward without OHA approval.
OHA said the review remained paused because Asante and the ASC refused to provide all requested information, including three years of payer contracts, according to the report. Asante officials argued the request would require breaching existing contractual obligations and withdrew the exemption request May 1 after OHA did not meet the decision deadline.
The ASC cited increased competition as a key factor in its financial decline, noting that Southern Oregon Orthopedics’ launch of an ASC in the same service area significantly reduced patient volume and revenue.
“Due to Oregon Health Authority’s failure to approve the emergency exemption application we submitted with Asante, the Surgery Center of Southern Oregon will have to close its facility on June 30,” a spokesperson for the ASC told Becker’s in a statement. “It is regrettable that this important surgical access point for patients will no longer be available after nine months of engaging in good faith with OHA’s Health Care Market Oversight program review process.”
OHA said in a statement: “Oregon Health Authority acknowledges the decision by Asante and the Surgery Center of Southern Oregon to cease the surgery center’s operations rather than proceed with OHA’s Health Care Market Oversight program’s evaluation of Asante’s request for an emergency exemption from HCMO review. Under the proposed transaction, Asante would have become the sole owner of the surgery center and license it as an outpatient department of Asante’s Medford hospital, the Rogue Regional Medical Center.
“OHA remains committed to ensuring the people of Oregon can receive the affordable, equitable and quality health care they need and deserve. While OHA doesn’t have the authority to stop the closure of health care facilities, the agency will work with Coordinated Care Organizations and other health care-providing organizations to ensure the surgery center’s Medicaid patients can continue to receive care at other facilities moving forward.”
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