Officials for Providence Health Services and Regence BlueCross BlueShield Oregon came to an 11th-hour agreement over the weekend to prevent a disruption of health care coverage for more than 260,000 Oregonians.

After months of negotiating — and minimal progress since November — contract negotiators worked through the weekend to find common ground before a 12:01 a.m. Monday deadline.

Providence spokesperson Gary Walker reported Monday morning that Providence officials had lifted a planned contract termination and that the two entities would work in good faith to “continue care delivery services together.”

“As we finalize our work on that new contract, Providence has rescinded its contract termination,” Walker said. “This means that all Providence patients with Regence health insurance will continue to have in-network access to care at Providence facilities and clinics.”

Had the contact been cancelled, Regence members who use Providence Health Services providers would have been “out of network” and paid higher rates.

Statewide, contracts were set to terminate Monday, Jan. 15, for Regence regular members and Feb. 15 for members covered under Regence’s Medicare Advantage plan.

On Friday, Providence and Regence officials had called for a six-week extension, to continue coverage for the southern portion of the state — clinics, but not hospitals. New contract deadlines, which are now moot, would have been March 1 for regular members and April 1 for Medicare Advantage plan members.

Providence officials had called for increased reimbursement rates to keep pace with increasing employee wages and rising health care costs, while Regence officials said the increases were a double-digit increase over what was being paid to other providers.

Dean Johnson, strategic communications manager for Regence BlueCross BlueShield Oregon, confirmed that a contract termination had been withdrawn.

“We recognize the uncertainty these negotiations caused for some Regence members and appreciate their patience as we worked with Providence leadership to achieve reimbursement rates that are more sustainable for our members and customers,” Johnson said Monday.

“We are grateful that our members should have no further disruption in care, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Providence to ensure our members have access to an important care partner in our communities.”

Neither Walker nor Johnson provided details on the terms of the negotiations, but they indicated that both sides compromised.

Walker said Providence officials were “grateful for Regence’s acknowledgement of our need to meet rising costs and compensate our caregivers, and we look forward to working in continued partnership and collaboration with Regence to serve our patients and communities with world-class health care services.”

To see updated information on contract negotiations and to renew, see news.regence.com/blog/providence-negotiations.