Sweet Home Receiving Expanded Healthcare Services

 SWEET HOME, Ore June 10, 2021 – Today leaders from Samaritan Health Services and Salem-based Mosaic Management, Inc. announced plans to enhance health care options in Sweet Home through construction of a new urgent care facility and expansion at Wiley Creek Community.

Doug Sproul, President/CEO of senior living provider Mosaic Management, Inc., announced plans to purchase the current Wiley Creek operation and adjacent property from Samaritan. Mosaic operates 10 other senior living communities throughout Oregon, including Willamette Springs in Corvallis. 

Once the purchase is complete, Sproul said Mosaic would continue to operate Wiley Creek and construct a new 27,000 square foot memory care unit to complement the community's existing senior living options. The current proposal also includes an approximately 22,000 square foot assisted living addition. 

In explaining Mosaic's interest in acquiring Wiley Creek Community, Sproul referenced the pastoral setting, nearby land on which to expand, well-maintained facilities, and qualified staff. He said, "This is a little of a homecoming for me since I grew up in Albany. I remember as a kid spending countless hours in Quartzville Creek, Foster Reservoir, and Green Peter Reservoir. Being able to come back and serve the community in this way is a special feeling, and I'm grateful for the opportunity."

Both Mosaic and Samaritan said the current 24 Wiley Creek employees will have opportunities to apply for positions within their organizations. 

Samaritan President/CEO Doug Boysen said the health system plans to build a 15,000-square-foot state of the art medical facility on land it owns near Wiley Creek Community. This medical office will house a new urgent care clinic and a larger home for Sweet Home Family Medicine.  The current family medicine clinic building located at 679 Main Street will provide enhanced physical rehabilitation services. 

Marty Cahill, CEO of Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, will have administrative responsibility for the Sweet Home project in conjunction with senior leaders at Samaritan Medical Group. Cahill said Samaritan had developed a Request for Proposal for an architectural firm to help design a "21st Century medical clinic" in Sweet Home.  

"Although it's currently housed in an older building, Sweet Home Family Medicine is an innovative example of how other important services can be co-located in a medical clinic," Cahill said, citing the dental services currently housed at the Sweet Home clinic as well as other supportive services."

Cahill said Samaritan is also pleased to be planning an urgent care clinic in Sweet Home, addressing a long-expressed community need.

"The nearest urgent care services are in Lebanon, and that can seem a long way when you need medical care now," Cahill said.

Sweet Home Mayor Greg Mahler said, "As a City Councilor and member of our Community Health Committee, we have worked feverishly to bring more health care services to our town. I am ecstatic to see this happening. I am thankful for the long-term partnership with Samaritan Health. I look forward to working with Mr. Sproul and his team at Mosaic Management." He went on to say this addition to the community will help with long-term economic growth for the city. 

Sweet Home City Manager Ray Towry said the plans for enhanced local health services reflect several priorities identified in the city's strategic goals. "Our residents prioritized the addition of memory care and urgent care as desired essential services," Towry said, "so we are very pleased to see these plans moving forward." 

In referencing Samaritan's decision to work with Mosaic, Boysen said leaders considered several offers to purchase Wiley Creek before choosing Mosaic as the preferred buyer.

"We appreciate that Mosaic is an Oregon company with a strong reputation and deep expertise with senior living communities," Boysen said. "We also support their plan to add memory care services at Wiley Creek, which will further enhance the care options there."

The Wiley Creek purchase is expected to be completed in late August. Sproul said, pending city permit approval, the construction of the memory care unit will take approximately a year.

Cahill outlined a similar construction timeframe for the new urgent care and family medicine clinics once the conditional use permit is approved.

The Sweet Home Planning Commission is scheduled to review the permit in early July. 

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