Brookings - considering for retirement but health care issue? (Portland: rentals, condo)

[KARW43]

I am reading negative reviews of various medical facilities on the Oregon coast, which is a consideration for me. Where do people go to doctors and the hospital in coastal Oregon? Do they mostly drive to Eugene? I drove from Medford to Coos Bay in May, and then into California (Eureka, down 101), to get the lay of the land. I liked the coast but may not be comfortable with the lack of hospitals or doctors. Might have to choose Eugene instead. Just wondered where people go to doctors or even where people shop, if they live in, say Brookings. Coos Bay is my second possible choice of where to move.

[Ruth4Truth]

The hospital in Gold Beach gets better reviews than most in the coastal area. Have you checked that out?

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by KARW43

I am reading negative reviews of various medical facilities on the Oregon coast, which is a consideration for me. Where do people go to doctors and the hospital in coastal Oregon? Do they mostly drive to Eugene? I drove from Medford to Coos Bay in May, and then into California (Eureka, down 101), to get the lay of the land. I liked the coast but may not be comfortable with the lack of hospitals or doctors. Might have to choose Eugene instead. Just wondered where people go to doctors or even where people shop, if they live in, say Brookings. Coos Bay is my second possible choice of where to move.

There really aren't any good hospitals on the Oregon coast (saying this as someone who lived there for years). Those who need more than basic or emergency care go inland. Additionally, just finding a PCP in any 101 community can be quite a challenge.

[movedintime]

If you are already thinking about health care issues, it's best not to live on the coast

[ejisme]

If you have VA Medical access there are several VA Clinics on the Oregon Coast to include Brookings and North Bend. This will at least get you a PCM. Then you can get community care paid by the VA or have transportation costs paid if you need to go inland for bigger events, or even up to Portland for the VA Hospital.

Otherwise, Brookings is pretty isolated. The road system is pretty much HWY 101 north/south, and not much going directly inland. If regular specialty medical care is something your family needs, then that's pretty hard to get on the coast. You can google medical specialties in different cities in Oregon and find where those specialists exist. For my family endocrinology is needed fairly regularly, so access to that specialty limits some of the places we can move to as we plan our retirement location.

[MtnSurfer]

If you search the forums, you will hear from locals who moved there during retirement. Then, they needed specialists and wound up driving for hours east weekly just to be seen. And those windy roads during winter are not always a safe/sane regular commute. So, eventually they sold to live closer to better healthcare including more specialists who are actually taking new patients.

With healthcare in the US being in a dismal state currently including fewer available doctors let alone specialists, that is a legitimate concern.

Alternatively, you could live there for a season and enjoy the coast. Then move if/when it becomes unmanageable. It just depends if you are hoping that will be your final retirement location. For some maybe, while for others, not so much.... Even if completely healthy now, things change over time which cannot be planned for. So, you have to adjust to make accommodations.

Derek

[texasdiver]

My family goes back 6 generations in Oregon. I have had numerous older relatives who have, at one point or the other, owned properties on the coast for weekend homes and with the eventual intent to retire there. More in the northern and central coast (Manzanita, Yachats, Florence, Depot Bay, etc.).

Not one of them has stuck it out. My last cousin who retired to the coast (gated community outside Manzanita) finally threw in the towel and moved to Hawaii a few years ago. I have one more relative who has a custom retirement home somewhere in the Depot Bay area that they have been trying to sell for a few years without success. I suspect they could easily sell it if they drop the price enough, but I guess they dumped much of their retirement savings into it and feel like they need to get their money back out. Good luck with that.

One thing I hear mentioned is that you spend all this time finding the perfect location, fixing up your vacation/retirement home, and then when you finally get settled in it turns out that all your neighbors are either AirB&B rentals or shuttered up weekend homes that might get a visit once a month or so.

On the other hand, I have lots of the same relatives who are happily retired around the Willamette Valley. Newberg, Canby, Albany, Salem area, Eugene, etc.

Honestly if you live in the Willamette Valley the coast is close enough to do anything you want there. Like fishing? Beachcombing? Finding the best clam chowder? If you are retired you can do that any day you want with an easy pleasant and scenic drive over to the coast. It's not that far. Especially if you are retired and can run over on any random Tuesday.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

There really aren't any good hospitals on the Oregon coast (saying this as someone who lived there for years). Those who need more than basic or emergency care go inland. Additionally, just finding a PCP in any 101 community can be quite a challenge.

I have a cousin who is a PCP on the coast. Lives in a condo during the week and spends weekends back in the valley.

It's not that there are no PCPs working on the coast. There are. It's that there aren't enough and so finding one you like who is taking new patients is the hurdle. Most of them are over-subscribed and not looking for new work. And no, my cousin is not taking new patients either.

[KARW43]

Thank you all so much. This is really helpful, especially the point about possibly needing to drive so far for specialty care. I am a veteran and can use the VA, but would rather not, based on my experiences with it so far. I will have to re-think my idea. The climate and natural beauty seem wonderful on the coast. I already had breast cancer and so I always think of health care now.

[leastprime]

Central to North Coast, Florence to Astoria, would be your best option with access to Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, Beaverton area meds. Med facilities would be about 60-70 miles from coast. Reasonably easy roads, except for the Newport-Corvallis.

However, North Coast doesn't have Palm trees as does the South Coast.