Rep. Yunker: Concerns over Asante clinic closures

Rep. Yunker Concerned Over Asante Clinic Closures
By State Representative Dwayne Yunker,

GRANTS PASS, ORE. – Today Representative Dwayne Yunker (R-Grants Pass) issued the following statement in response to Asante Health System’s announced discontinuation of its outpatient physical therapy services at two locations, one in Grants Pass and one in Medford, effective August 28, 2026:

“Oregon Democrats have created a toxic, anti-business, and anti-health care provider environment in our state,” said Representative Yunker. “Through an endless barrage of heavy-handed mandates, suffocating regulations, and exorbitant fees and taxes, the majority party is systematically breaking our health care system and destroying patient access to critical care.”

“The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) has morphed from a labor advocate into a radical political activist organization that is holding our health care providers hostage,” said Representative Yunker. “The unions have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to Governor Tina Kotek, and they were rewarded with strict, government-mandated staffing ratios driving Oregon’s median nursing salary to the highest in the nation when adjusted for cost of living.”

“The result of this left-wing political scheming is playing out right here in Grants Pass and Medford: our access to care is crumbling,” said Representative Yunker. “When a vital community safety net like Asante is forced to slash core outpatient services just to survive these state-generated financial headwinds, it is the patients in Southern Oregon who ultimately pay the price.”