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Joyful Noise: Peaceful Pre-Way Protest Counters Traveling Turning Point USA Event BY NATE SCHWARTZ Editor
Dozens of protesters flocked to the Steve Prefontaine murals in downtown Coos Bay on the evening of Thursday, January 29. The ‘Pre-Way’ became the venue for peaceful demonstration after many murmurs of consternation among the community grew in volume over the coming visit from Turning Point USA’s (TPUSA) ‘American Values Tour’. The controversial Christian-nationalist organization, founded in 2012 by Bill Montgomery and Charlie Kirk, received plaudits from President Donald Trump himself, who thanked their political messaging efforts on college campuses across the country for playing a huge role in his successful campaign efforts. Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, causing a groundswell of support for the organization led by the Trump administration. The non-profit’s stated purpose is to “educate young people about the importance of limited government, free markets, and freedom.”
See JOYFUL NOISE Continued on Page 5
Bay Area Hospital Holds State of the Hospital Community Forum The hospital was in the black for operating costs for the first time in four years BY NATE SCHWARTZ Editor
Bay Area Hospital (BAH) held two community forums last week to give updates on the ongoing financial turnaround and path forward for the hospital. The hospital’s financial struggles have been well documented and led to a potential acquisition by healthcare management firm Quorum. Voter turnout against that acquisition led to only two members of the board of directors keeping their seats in the spring elections of 2025. Since then, the new board have been hard at work in recruiting a new executive team and directing them to shore up hospital finances, keeping the hospital independent for the time being. This includes CEO Gretchen Nichols and new CFO Patrick Banks, who were proud to announce that the hospital posted a positive operating cost for the first time in four years. “It means the expense structure we’ve settled on is meeting the expectations of our revenue,” Nichols told the World. “The hard work of our recovery plan is working, and we have made that turn. We still have a lot of headwinds in front of us. But the projections look really good, and we’re managing our operations
really well… It shows that we can get there with the current structure.” The finance team in collaboration with every department managed to turn consistent seven figure losses into a $164,662 surplus in December of 2025. The presentation suggested that with lots of expenses at the turn of the year, things may dip back into the red again, but a consistent month-on-month trend has shown significant reductions in operating cost deficits since fall of last year. The successful steps in the expense reduction plan BAH has been able to implement include an 80% reduction in traveler labor, reducing the cost of employment and keeping jobs here for local residents. Transitioning locums and renegotiating contracts with physician groups will save a projected $3.6 million per year. Renegotiating service contracts and eliminating excess spending will save another $5.2 million per year. And $6 million in extra revenue can be garnered by more actively managing the hospital’s accounts receivable with insurance providers. Nichols spoke to the further need to recruit physicians in specialties like orthopedics, cardiology, and more to help expand services and access in the
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area. The hospital is also actively trying to get their share of $197.3 million in federal funds allocated to Oregon for rural healthcare, which will hopefully offset some of the massive cuts to Medicare that were recently passed. “When we talk about our plan to save the hospital and achieve financial stability, there’s no way to do that without being in the black,” said Banks. “Proving that we can do that should be a huge signal to the state and the community that we’re going to be here and we deserve the support.
Deserve a little bit of help to get out of the capital needs and debt hole that we’re in. If we get that help, we can keep it going.” That debt is the major challenge still facing BAH, with $44 million still outstanding on their loan with Bank of Montreal (BMO). A $35.3 million balloon payment on that debt is due in December of 2030, and failed covenants on the loan are costing the hospital an additional $1.3 mill per year. The hospital also has significant outstanding capital needs,
like replacing the current CT scanner and bringing in a second. Those scanners run at about $1.5 million a pop. The hospital is counting on their legislative strategy being successful. Should they receive the support they are requesting from the state, they will be back in a position where they can begin to expand the hospital’s range of services and improve patient experience greatly. OtherSee BAH Continued on Page 3
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