The exterior of the new St. Charles Prineville in 2015.

PRINEVILLE — St. Charles Prineville will discontinue planned surgeries starting next month because of a lack of anesthesiologists.

Until now, the 16-bed hospital has been performing routine, scheduled surgeries twice a week, said Christy McLeod, St. Charles Health System vice president of cardiovascular and surgical services.

St. Charles Prineville is licensed by the Oregon Health Authority as a low-occupancy acute-care facility and is not required to provide surgical services, said Afiq Hisham, OHA spokesman.

In an interview, McLeod said, “A lot of people won’t notice the change. We have the capacity to schedule them in Bend, Madras and Redmond. We’ll do our best to make this as seamless as possible.”

St. Charles Redmond had been performing the majority of surgeries of Prineville patients, McLeod said. Scheduled surgeries in Redmond will be confined to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. No weekend or evening surgeries will be scheduled.

Currently, the majority of surgeries across the health system are done in Bend since the facility has access to the specialties and providers, McLeod said.

“Health care, like a lot of industries, has been changed by the pandemic,” McLeod said. “We continue to face resource constraints with a variety of things, such as specialized surgical supplies and equipment. In addition, nationally there is a shortage of anesthesia and surgical providers, which impacts St. Charles as well. By consolidating the surgeries, it allows us to ensure our Redmond campus is efficient and make best use of areas where we have resource limitations.”

Still, the change will require Prineville residents to drive the 20 miles to Redmond for routine surgical procedures like a colonoscopy. The Prineville hospital still has its emergency department and if someone requires surgery, a patient treatment plan can be worked up that can includes the other area hospitals.

The decision by St. Charles is not unusual for health care organizations nationwide, especially those serving rural areas.

There are multiple challenges facing rural health — including population changes, workforce and training demands, and general economics, said Robert Duehmig, director of the Oregon Office of Rural Health at Oregon Health & Science University.

“Reducing surgical services in any rural community typically requires patients to drive longer in order to receive necessary health services,” Duehmig said in an email. “This creates additional barriers to accessing care, which can cause people to either delay seeking treatment or not receive treatment, and can also increase poor health outcomes in the affected area.”

According to St. Charles Health System community assessment, Prineville and Crook County have a higher proportion of residents 65 and older than other Central Oregon counties. Crook County also has the highest proportion of veterans, compared to Deschutes and Jefferson counties.

The 2023 County Health Rankings define Crook County as the 22nd healthiest county in the state of Oregon, out of the 35 counties.

Prineville’s surgical staff will have an opportunity to apply for other positions, she said. Four nurses will be affected by the elimination of scheduled surgeries in Prineville, said the Oregon Nurses Association.