Asante Clinic Closures Spark Southern Oregon Fight Between Nurses Union and State Lawmaker

MEDFORD, Ore. — The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) claims in a statement that the closure of Asante clinics in Medford and Grants Pass is an example of healthcare executives ‘collecting massive personal paychecks’ at the expense of essential frontline healthcare services.

The announcement that the two outpatient physical therapy clinics will stop operating on 28 August 2026 has evolved with ONA clashing with State Representative Dwayne Yunker (R-Grants Pass), accusing him of echoing corporate excuses regarding staffing laws, and of attacking frontline medical workers.

Yunker, on the other hand, accuses ONA of morphing ‘from a labor advocate into a radical political activist organization that is holding our healthcare providers hostage,’ resulting in crumbling access to healthcare.

Rep. Yunker Says State Democrats Have Created a Toxic Environment for Business and Healthcare

Accusing Oregon Democrats of creating ‘a toxic, anti-business, and anti-healthcare provider environment,’ Yunker claims that the ‘barrage of heavy-handed mandates, suffocating regulations, and exorbitant fees and taxes,’ imposed by the majority party ‘is systematically breaking our healthcare system and destroying patient access to critical care.’

ONA Believes Yunker is ‘Doing the Bidding” of Healthcare Executives

Meanwhile, ONA says instead of supporting the people who care for Southern Oregonians every day, Yunker is doing the bidding of Asante’s out-of-state healthcare executives who are ‘putting profits ahead of patient care’

“Asante’s executives must stop cutting our community’s safety net and start working together with local healthcare professionals to improve our community’s health and safety,” states ONA.

The nurses union claims that while healthcare professionals fight for safe staffing, quality patient care, and access to healthcare across Southern Oregon, healthcare executives are protecting profits.

Furthermore, ONA believes Yunker has sided with corporate healthcare executives ‘over the nurses and staff who care for his constituents.’