One of Oregon’s largest healthcare players outside the metro area experienced a $67.3 million net loss in its 2016 fiscal year, as expenses climbed and revenue did not keep pace.
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Two of the Catholic chain’s four Oregon hospitals were in the red in 2016, and the others made less than the year before.
Sep 20 2017
In this annual in-depth review of hospitals, Salem Health shows continued profits despite end to OHSU partnership, and Santiam sees margins climb – but also charity care expenses.
Marion County is a particularly competitive marketplace for Oregon Hospitals. In the state capital, Salem Health is a major player. Twelve miles away, Santiam seeks to compete. Legacy Silverton Hospital, profiled earlier by The Lund Report, is also part of the market.
Sep 15 2017
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The House Health chairman has tried to revamp the CCOs before they get a new 5-year contract, arguing they need greater transparency and accountability. A year's delay would give the new administration more time to improve a system the public has had to support with more taxes. The Oregon Health Authority may delay a new contract for Medicaid coordinated care organizations until 2020, giving the state a chance to evolve the framework for the publicly-funded insurance system for the poor and disabled. Sep 22 2017 |
Democrats balanced Oregon’s 2017-2019 budget on the backs of disabled kids; starting next summer, the state will stop allowing most children to enroll in a program that provides supports that often keeps parents from placing their children in residential care. Under pressure from legislators to cut costs, the Department of Human Services outlined a plan Tuesday that will seek federal permission to close the door on children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, cutting off a program to receive in-home supports unless their families are in o Sep 20 2017 |
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Over the protests of Republican Sen. Kim Thatcher, Democrats said it’s time to move on and give the new leadership team a chance at the Oregon Health Authority, a position that FamilyCare shared. A Senate committee opened and closed a public hearing on the Oregon Health Authority’s communications scandal involving FamilyCare, as the people involved with the ordeal failed to show up at the hearing. Sep 20 2017 |
Come check out our great jobs from South Lane Mental Health, Volunteers of America Oregon, CODA, Southwest IPA Inc., The Northwest Catholic Counseling Center, and more. Bend Hernia Center is the only surgical practice in central Oregon focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of hernias. Sep 22 2017 |
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Funds would underwrite website improvements, bolster strength of independent news site’s hard-hitting journalism. When you think about where to find the most provocative news about Oregon’s healthcare industry, look no further than The Lund Report. Sep 20 2017 |
Tickets are going fast for this breakfast forum, next Wednesday, Sept. 27. A key figure who led efforts to pass landmark legislation in California focused on soaring prescription drug costs will appear at the Oregon Health Forum breakfast next Wednesday Sep Sep 20 2017 |
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September 18, 2017 -- In the second quarter of 2017, community hospitals across Oregon saw low operating margins compared those of prior years, continuing the trend from the previous several quarters. Sep 20 2017 |
After three presentations to the Oregon Health Policy Board, the state still has made little progress on efforts to collaborate, reduce spending. Members of the Oregon Health Policy Board expressed frustration this week with the slow pace of efforts to hold down public spending on prescription drugs. Sep 15 2017 |
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Salem Health is investing $3M to expand the Salem Hospital emergency department to meet the needs of the growing community and create an improved experience for patients. In the eight year life of the hospital's Building A, this will be the third expansion to the ED. Sep 20 2017 |
A trio of billionaires are behind the campaign to add Oregon’s largest county to a list of communities from Seattle to Philadelphia to Chicago that have added steep taxes on soda pop and sugary drinks designed to reduce the consumption of these beverages, which are leading drivers of diabetes and obesity. A coalition of public health officials and liberal Portland politicians will kick off a push for a 1.5-cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages with a rally on Saturday, marking the start of a petition drive to ask Multnomah County voters to raise the tax on the May 2018 ballot. Sep 15 2017 |
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But as more serious disasters in Florida and Texas show, questions remain about how prepared Oregon will be for a disaster that affects more people. Hurricanes Irma and Harvey have been like a post-traumatic shock for a country that survived Hurricane Katrina, which took the lives of 215 people in nursing homes and hospitals, often because the system was not prepared to look out for these people. Sep 15 2017 |
It does not take a hurricane to put nursing home residents at risk when disaster strikes. Around the country, facilities have been caught unprepared for far more mundane emergencies than the hurricanes that recently struck Florida and Houston, according to an examination of federal inspection records. Those homes rarely face severe reprimands, records show, even when inspectors identify repeated lapses. Sep 20 2017 |
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Rep. Greg Walden raised even more than the state’s two senators in the first six months of 2017, including more than $500,000 from the healthcare industry even as he helped push a Trumpcare bill that most of the industry hated. Oregon’s congressional delegation raised $4.7 million in the first six months of 2017, amassing an impressive reelection war chest even though no seat has switched party hands in the state since 2008. Sep 13 2017 |
Assisted living and residential care costs over $44,000 per year, on average, according to figures that will be discussed Friday at a round-table review of recent studies from across the state. Oregon’s Department of Human Services is gearing up for a public data dump this Friday detailing the results of several new studies on assisted living and nursing facilities. Sep 13 2017 |
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The Republicans fighting the tax appear to have bungled their way toward the ballot, as the top legislative attorney believes that the 0.7% tax on hospitals will be collected in 2018 and 2019 regardless of an election. A successful referendum would repeal the hospital tax just for 87 days in 2017 as well as the 1.5% insurance tax. Oregon would forfeit federal dollars if an election is held over a suite of healthcare taxes that fund the state Medicaid system even if the taxes are upheld, according to Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin, chairman of the Committee on Ways & Means. Sep 6 2017 |
The collective money from the physician groups is the governor’s second-highest donation this year, but a fraction of the cool half million that Republican Rep. Knute Buehler received from Nike tycoon Phil Knight, the “Andrew Carnegie of Oregon.” A half dozen doctors’ groups that help manage Medicaid in Oregon have given $60,000 to Gov. Kate Brown’s re-election campaign. Sep 6 2017 |