Oregon
Providence to spin off its in home health care with for-profit venture
Northwest health care giant Providence Health announced Tuesday it is spinning off its home health division.
Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center, in Oregon City, Ore., Aug. 2, 2023.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Providence’s home health, hospice and community palliative care programs will become part of a joint venture with Compassus, a for-profit company.
The Tennessee-based company provides home health, home infusion and hospice care in 30 states across the East Coast, Midwest and South.
It doesn’t currently operate in the Pacific Northwest, where Providence holds a significant share of the market. Providence operates in seven states: Washington, Montana, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Texas and Alaska.
Providence notified the Oregon Nurses Association of the transaction in an email on Tuesday. ONA represents nurses and many professional staff employed by Providence’s home health division.
The deal will allow Providence to take advantage of Compassus’ experience delivering home health care, wrote Jaquie Lupro, a spokesperson on behalf of Providence to ONA.
“Compassus already has infrastructure and technology ― electronic medical record, mobile devices, predictive analytics, and billing systems ― specifically designed for these in-home care services,” Lupro wrote.
The joint venture is expected to begin operations in early 2025, Lupro said. Providence’s home health health employees will likely, after a transition period, become employees of Compassus.
The joint venture will need approval by regulators in Oregon.
The Oregon Health Authority reviews all major health care transactions, including joint ventures, and can impose conditions on deals it finds will have a negative impact on access to affordable health care.
In 2019, Compassus was jointly purchased by the private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners and the health system Ascension Health, according to news reports.
Democratic lawmakers tried, in the last session, to adopt even more stringent requirements for health care transactions in Oregon, citing concern that private equity investments can diminish local control over health care. Republicans successfully blocked that legislation, arguing it would have stifled innovation and investment.
Providence, which has nonprofit status, has received tax breaks from the state of Oregon in exchange for providing charity care and other community benefits.
Providence’s home health, hospice and palliative care at home programs serve about 30,000 patients each day across its service area.
“The demand for these services continues to increase in the markets we serve, creating opportunities for continued growth, innovation, and investment,” the company wrote in its most recent financial filing.
The company said its union representation in the field will remain and Compassus will take over bargaining future contracts.
The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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‘Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,’ a Wine Enthusiast contributor said of an Oregon wine
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Wine Enthusiast released a list of the top 40 sparkling wines around the world in 2026 – highlighting two bottles of bubbly from Oregon.
“While it can seem like you need a fortune to enjoy high quality sparkling wine, you honestly don’t. Excellent affordable bubbles are being produced around the world, often in places you might not expect. Each of the selections on our inaugural Top 40 Sparkling Wines list delivers personality, freshness, and celebration for under $75,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.
Wine Enthusiast divided its list into separate sparkling categories including, Champagne, Italian Bollicine, American sparkling and bottles $25 and under.
Snagging a spot on the American sparkling list: Corollary Wines in McMinnville.
Corollarly’s 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé Pinot Noir scored 96 points from Wine Enthusiast.
“This is a Peter Max print of a wine, with vivid aromas and flavors to match the wine’s electric Kool-Aid color. It is filled to the brim with aromas and flavors of macerated strawberries, candied rose petals, apricots, and a bitter note similar to watermelon rind. Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,” wrote Wine Enthusiast contributor Michael Alberty.
The second Oregon winery to earn a spot on the list: Lytle-Barnett in Dundee.
Wine Enthusiast also gave Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brut Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay 96 points.
“Bubbles as persistent as an eight-year-old with a question deliver aromas of dried rose petals, macerated strawberries, and a touch of fresh hay and talc. This 70/30 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend is packed with flavors of lemon zest, Honeycrisp apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dollop of raspberry,” Alberty wrote.
The nods to Corollary and Lytle-Barnett come as the wineries recently helped launch Method Oregon, a nonprofit made up of 50 Oregon wineries aiming to turn Oregon into a global sparkling wine destination.
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