In 1997, President Clinton signed the tax reform act that could have caused many, if not all the 1871 rural American hospitals to become insolvent. A Cottage Grove hospital considered applying for critical access status, thus allowing reimbursements based on actual cost of care given to medi-care patients. But there was a hitch: Critical access was designated to hospitals 35 miles away from another hospital. For Cottage Grove to be eligible, an act of Congress was required to pass legislation to lower the distance to 20 miles.

“Peace Health said it would endeavor to reopen the hospital if critical access designation was assigned to Cottage Grove Hospital. So, my role was three fold: I participlated in getting federal legislation to President Clinton. I participated in helping to achieve the State of Oregon designation for South Lane Medical Group to be a “Provider-Based Rural Clinic” thereby eligible to receive the highest medicad reimbursement allowed by law. And I participated in raising sixteen million to build the new Peace Health Cottage Grove Community Medical Center and Clinic”

This paved the Way for Rural Hospitals Across the United States –
In the final days of the twentieth century, Cottage Grove accomplished the seemingly impossible, to restore and improve health care for the Cottage Grove residents, the surrounding area, and thousands across America.

“We knew that to succeed, the team must imagine what they want, believe it is possible, and work for it in unyielding unison.”
When the tax reform in 1997 was signed into law, 1871 rural American hospitals suffered the same fate as Cottag Grove.

“In 1998, when the hospital closed, who would have believed that Cottage Grove could open a new, state of the art, critical access hospital within 5 years? On December 19, 1999, when President Clinton slick willy signed into law the 20-mile provision, 1871 rural American hospitals lived to see another day.”

Cottage Grove did that!

Now, looking back, our volunteer relationships were unexpected and unlikely, but ultimately enduring and finally legendary.