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Good morning, Northwest.

Oregon passed a law five years ago that was designed to give the state more power to restrict healthcare consolidation.

The law has become a model for other states looking to limit disruptions to patient care sometimes brought on by mergers and acquisitions.

OPB partner ProPublica reports that the law may not be as effective as some of its backers had hoped. That story starts today’s newsletter.

In other news, Multnomah County’s enormous new library in Gresham is now open.

Here’s your First Look at Monday’s news.

— Bradley W. Parks

Top story

A unique Oregon law allows it to block healthcare deals. In 5 years, the state hasn’t done so once

In 2021, Oregon became the first in the country to give its state health department the broad power to block acquisitions and mergers of hospitals, hospices and medical practices, an effort to counteract the consolidation that research shows is cutting competition and driving up costs nationwide.

Lawmakers said Oregon’s novel oversight power would stop multibillion-dollar deals from reducing care and increasing costs. State regulators got the authority to reject transactions or to add conditions and levy fines if companies disregarded them. The law was hailed as a national model.

Five years later, Oregon has not formally blocked a single transaction or issued any fines. While the new oversight is credited with leading to the withdrawal of two high-profile transactions, some people who supported the law say it has not been nearly as effective as hoped. (Rob Davis, ProPublica)

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3 things to know

• Several hundred people gathered in Gresham on Saturday to see the opening of the brand new East County Library, located across the street from Gresham City Hall. (Joni Auden Land)
• New research from Oregon State University suggests forest management practices like prescribed burning and selective thinning can aid northern spotted owl habitat. (Brian Bull, KLCC)
• The Douglas County Board of Commissioners last week approved an agreement between the county and the city of Roseburg to hire local contractors to complete repairs for low-income homeowners. (Jane Vaughan, JPR)

Remembering the Mount St. Helens eruption and people who died on the mountain

Everyone who was in the Pacific Northwest on May 18, 1980, has some kind of story about the Mount St. Helens eruption. OPB producer Ian McCluskey revisited that fateful day with some people who remember it very well for both personal and professional reasons. (Julie Sabatier and Ian McCluskey)

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Northwest headlines

• Judge rejects lawsuit against rewrite of Washington parental rights law (Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard)
• ‘Something bigger than myself’: Whitman College’s first 2 Šináata Scholars set to graduate (Erick Bengel, NWPB)
• Messi’s goal, assist lead Inter Miami to 2-0 win over Portland and first at new stadium (AP)
• Thorns and Angel City play to 0-0 draw, Portland’s first scoreless match of the season (Phuoc Nguyen, AP)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• A look at Oregon’s wildfire funding ahead of a possibly massive fire season
• Rate of abuse of Oregon foster kids is at a record high

One more look

Washington geologist remembers visiting Mount St. Helens the day before it blew

On May 17, 1980, geologist Carolyn Driedger stood beneath a volcano she knew intimately — and one she was beginning to fear.

The summit of Mount St. Helens towered above, its graceful, snow-covered slopes gleaming in the sun. But her eyes were fixed on something else: a grotesque bulge protruding from the mountain’s north face.

“It was almost a vertical slab, swollen like a wound,” Driedger recalled. “It was clear this was an evolving situation.”

Her instincts were correct, her apprehension justified, though she had no notion of the extent of what was about to happen.

In less than 24 hours, the mountain she saw would be changed forever, the entire peak and north face would be gone, and a path of destruction would fan out across an area of 230 square miles.

The eruption was the deadliest in U.S. history, killing 57 people, including a young geologist, David Johnston, whom Driedger was on her way to see.

This story was first published on May 18, 2025.(Ian McCluskey)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/18/healthcare-merger-acquisition-oregon-first-look/