Valley View Health Center announced Monday that it has cut an unspecified number of positions in the company, citing inflation, reimbursement rates and policies, and prescription drug prices as among the factors contributing to the “workforce reductions.”

“Reducing services was a hard decision, but it is necessary to take decisive action to assure a sound financial future for Valley View and our patients,” Greg Martin, chair of the board of directors for Valley View, said in a statement.

In July, the company celebrated two decades of medical, dental, behavioral health care and pharmacy services in Lewis, Pacific and Thurston counties. The company began with a single clinic in 2004 and has expanded to 15 clinics in Southwest Washington.

A federally-qualified health center, Valley View serves more than 27,000 patients yearly, including veterans, seasonal farmworkers, people experiencing homelessness and uninsured patients.

“Valley View Health Center provides critical health care to those that need it most. We are making this difficult decision to ensure we can continue to serve as many safety net patients as possible,” Gaelon Spradley, CEO of Valley View Health Center, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Spradley said that the company does not have a final number of layoffs, though the behavioral health department will be most impacted.

“We're trying to restructure quickly to provide services to other health care providers and local nonprofits to reduce the impact to our team,” Spradley said. “That will take some time.”

In July, Spradley told The Chronicle that operating in smaller communities can create challenges, including matching the compensation offered by other organizations.

“We're making other changes cautiously to avoid other patient impacts,” Spradley said Wednesday. “We anticipate providing more appointments to medical and dental patients through the end of this year to help balance our budget shortfall.”