Eva Matteson will leave the Coast 93.1 morning show on Feb. 28 to focus on her health and well-being.

Eva Matteson will leave her job as morning co-host at Portland radio station Coast 93.1 on Feb. 28, after 15 years on the air. Photo courtesy of Coast 93.1

Matteson, who has been the Portland radio show’s co-host for 15 years, told listeners the news Tuesday morning. She said she has some “health issues I want to focus on.” Without saying what those issues are specifically, Matteson said they were “mental, physical and spiritual.” She also said that getting up at 3 a.m. every day “takes a toll.”

“I’ve decided it’s the right time for me to step down from the Coast Morning Show and take ‘self’ time to focus on me – continuing the healing path I’ve been on for my body and mind, and travel for more than two weeks at a time,” Matteson said an in email announcing her departure. She did not respond to a request for additional comment Tuesday afternoon.

Matteson mentioned on the show Tuesday that she had successfully battled breast cancer 14 years ago, talking about it then on air. The cancer was detected because Matteson took a mammogram to promote breast cancer awareness.

Matteson told listeners she had come to Coast 93.1 from Nashville, Tennessee, as a temporary fill-in host. But she soon discovered she loved the job and was offered it full-time. She said that her co-host since 2014, Blake Hayes, as well as others at Coast 93.1, have become “like family” to her. Last spring, Hayes dealt with the grief of the sudden death of his partner, Kyle Fair, by talking on air with listeners and Matteson.

“If we’ve learned anything in the last eight months, it’s that life is short,” Matteson said on air Tuesday.

Randi Kirshbaum, the brand manager for Coast 93.1, said the station will seek a replacement for Matteson but added, “of course, she is irreplaceable.”