Providence is permanently closing its occupational medicine and workplace health services in the Portland area. Nov. 7 will be the final day of operations for Providence Occupational Medicine at medical centers in Tigard, Clackamas, Hillsboro, and Newberg.
The closures mean Providence is cutting 43 positions, including medical assistants, physician assistants, and non-clinical positions like front desk and billing staff.
The loss of four clinics will worsen an ongoing shortage of medical providers handling workers’ compensation claims.
More than half of Providence’s occupational medicine clinicians left in the past two years, Providence Oregon executives Ben LeBlanc and Jennifer Zelensky wrote in a statement shared by a spokesperson. “Despite our best efforts, the sustained shortage of these specialized clinicians has made it impossible to maintain operations,” they wrote.
Occupational medicine focuses on prevention and treatment of work-related injuries and illnesses. It includes medical evaluations like pre-employment physicals and hearing tests, testing and treatment after chemical exposures, evaluating and issuing work restrictions for injured employees, and physical therapy.
Around 80% of Providence’s occupational health services work is related to workers’ compensation or return-to-work goals, a spokesperson told the Labor Press.
Workers’ compensation is a system that provides medical care and disability benefits to workers who are injured on the job, through insurance paid by employers.
Emily Cronan is a nurse practice consultant for the Oregon Nurses Association and a member of a state labor-management committee evaluating the workers’ compensation system.
Cronan said one of the biggest barriers in the workers’ comp system is finding a provider willing and able to treat patients. Many doctors and clinics won’t take workers’ compensation cases because of low reimbursement rates, extra paperwork, and additional time spent talking to lawyers and insurance companies.
“When major healthcare organizations first restrict and then eliminate services, that gap only widens — leading to longer wait times, increased costs, delayed recovery, additional time-loss and poorer outcomes for workers and their families,” Cronan told the Labor Press by email.
