Message from Fairchild Medical Center

July 9, 2025

I received several questions yesterday about the Facebook posting which shares that Doug LaMalfa’s CA – 1 District has the most hospitals at risk of closing because of the recent passing of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). Fairchild Medical Center is listed as of one of six rural hospitals in LaMalfa’s district that will be negatively impacted by this bill which will make the largest cuts to Medicaid in U.S. history.

The reality of the OBBBA is that members of our community and of communities across Siskiyou County may no longer qualify for Medi-Cal coverage. Less insurance coverage too often means less access to care. Our team at Fairchild is concerned for those who will lose coverage, and our organization remains fully committed to serving every member of our community regardless of insurance status.

The OBBBA will result in revenue losses to California hospitals between $66 billion and $128 billion over the next decade. Our management team will continue to evaluate the impact on FMC as the details of the bill are provided in coming months. Our team does not expect any immediate changes to our operational and strategic plans or to our scope of service at the hospital or clinics. FMC remains committed to local access to health care for our community.

Many of you know that Fairchild has just embarked on a large expansion project. Our team remains fully committed to the completion of this project on the scheduled date of July 2027. For more information about the project, please visit https://fairchildmed.org/expansion/. All of us at Fairchild are grateful for the financial support already provided for this project by many members of our community.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to the hospital as we move forward with the expansion project and as we navigate the challenges ahead for California rural hospitals.

President and CEO, Jonathon Andrus