Oregon health officials are reviewing Samaritan Health Services’ plan to buy a small group of hospitals and clinics east of Salem.

Samaritan, a nonprofit health network based in Corvallis, announced its intention to purchase Santiam Hospital and Clinics, a nonprofit health system based in Stayton, in late May. Both have submitted their final merger plans last month to state health officials for regulatory review.

Samaritan – which operates five hospitals and more than 80 clinics and care facilities throughout the Willamette Valley and the Oregon Coast – is a major health care provider in Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties. Santiam operates one of the state’s few remaining independent acute care hospitals and six rural clinics that serve patients in Linn and Marion counties.