Portland long-term acute care hospital will shutter, lay off 310 employees

Vibra Healthcare, which operates Oregon’s sole long-term acute care hospital in Portland, plans to shut down operations early next year and lay off its entire workforce of 310 employees.

In a Monday notice to state labor officials, the company said it plans to permanently close Vibra Specialty Hospital of Portland in early February, citing “ongoing financial challenges that have made it unsustainable to continue operations.”

Michael Kerr, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said the imminent closure is “a major blow” to the region’s already-strained continuum of care. He said the organization has stopped taking in new patients at the 73-bed facility.

Kerr said long-term acute care hospitals like Vibra serve medically complex patients — those who have survived major trauma, neuro