Praxis Health announces closure of La Grande Urgent Care, August 14, and expansion of La Grande Family Medicine
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, June 24th, 2026 in Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories
LA GRANDE – Healthcare services in La Grande are going to change this summer. On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, Praxis Health sent a message to patients announcing the planned closure of La Grande Urgent Care, and the subsequent expansion of La Grande Family Medicine into the soon to be vacant exams room.
To clarify, La Grande Family Medicine is NOT closing. For those unfamiliar, La Grande Family Medicine and La Grande Urgent Care, both operated under Praxis Health, share the same building along with Interpath Laboratory at 2011 Fourth Street in La Grande. La Grande Urgent Care will cease to operate come August 14, while La Grande Family Medicine will expand its operations within the same building. As written by Praxis in a follow up message to patients on June 23:
“La Grande Family Medicine is not closing. We are open, looking to expand, and we are more invested than ever in serving our community’s primary care needs.”
As to why Praxis made the decision to shutter La Grande Urgent Care, it largely came down to diminishing clients for the service, while demand for primary care services in La Grande has been growing beyond capacity, according to Michael F. Olson, COO of Praxis Health. As written by Olson in a recent statement to Elkhorn Media Group:
“At its core, this was about looking honestly at where the community need is right now and where we can make the biggest difference. La Grande Urgent Care opened during COVID when there was a real and immediate need for additional urgent care access. We’re proud of what the team built and how they showed up for the community during that time. Over the last couple of years though, we’ve consistently seen lower utilization, averaging around 10 patients per day, including weekends.
That trend held steady even with ongoing marketing efforts and a team that genuinely earned great patient feedback. At the same time, we’re seeing the opposite on the primary care side, where demand is outpacing our current capacity. So this really came down to: where is the need, and how do we best serve La Grande with the space and resources we have? Investing further in primary care felt like the honest answer to that question.”
As to what this means going forward, daily operations for La Grande Family Medicine and Interpath Lab will not be impacted. As the August 14th cut off approaches, patients should expect more communication from Praxis health on the next steps, be it integration into La Grande Family Medicine, or transition to another urgent care provider. According to a the recent update to patients, La Grande Family Medicine will provide the following appointment and scheduling options for those that need rapid support:
- Same-Day and Next Day Access
- New Patient, Transition of Care, and Preventative Visits
- Weekend Coverage
For anyone requiring urgent care services, Grande Ronde Urgent care remains active, as does the Grande Ronde Hospital emergency room.
After the August 14th cut off, the exam rooms and office space currently dedicated to urgent care will be folded into primary care. Long term, according to Olson, Praxis plans to expand the La Grande team with an additional primary care professional, increasing their local panel to an estimated additional 1,200 to 1,500 patients. The hope is to bring in another provider before the end of the year.
Further reflecting on the coming transition, Olson would also write:
“I’d just want the community to know that we’re genuinely grateful for the trust people placed in La Grande Urgent Care over the last five years. This wasn’t a decision anyone made lightly, and it was made in partnership with our local team, not handed down from the outside. We’re hopeful that what comes next serves La Grande just as well, and we’re committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for both patients and staff.”
For further questions, contact Praxis at 541-963-4139, send a message through the patient portal, or stop by the clinic.
