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A woman wearing a mask prepares a syringe for vaccination injection at a table under a tent in a parking lot.

COVID-19 VACCINE PREPARATION AT A DRIVE-THRU VACCINATION CLINIC AT PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, APRIL 9, 2021. THE CLINIC WAS A JOINT OPERATION HOSTED BY OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY, THE PORT OF PORTLAND AND THE AMERICAN RED CROSS./KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF/OPB

Oregon Prepares To Offer COVID Vaccines To Children Ages 5-11

The lower-dose vaccine has received emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Nov 2, 2021

Trillium's offices in Eugene. | CHRISTIAN WIHTOL/THE LUND REPORT

OHA Halts New Enrollment In Trillium’s Medicaid Plan In The Portland-Area Market

The state says its clampdown on the CCO stems from Trillium’s inadequate efforts to improve services to members in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties.

Nov 1, 2021
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OHSU Hospital on Marquam Hill. | LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

OHSU Board Approves $650 Million Hospital Expansion

The expansion project, a 15-story building, will grow bed capacity by about one-third.

Oct 29, 2021
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WHEN CAITLIN WELLS SALERNO AND JON SALERNO’S FIRST SON, HANK, WAS BORN, HIS DELIVERY COST THE FAMILY ONLY $30. GUS’ BILL CAME IN AT MORE THAN $16,000. THE FAMILY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR ABOUT $3,600 OF IT./RAE ELLEN BICHELL/KHN

How Billing Turns A Routine Birth Into A High-Cost Emergency

Over the past 20 years, hospitals and doctors have learned there’s great profit in upcoding visits.

Oct 28, 2021

patient lies in bed next to a female medical worker who is examining a reading on a medical device.

FERNANDO ZHIMINAICELA/PIXABAY

Medicare Punishes 2,499 Hospitals For High Readmissions

In its 10th annual round of penalties under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, Medicare is reducing its payments to 47% of all facilities.

Oct 28, 2021

GÁBOR BEJÓ/PIXABAY

OHSU Doctor, Advocacy Group Challenge Residency Requirement In Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act

The national advocacy organization Compassion & Choices and an OHSU professor filed a lawsuit alleging the requirement in Oregon's medical aid in dying law violates the U.S. Constitution.

Oct 28, 2021

A man sits crosslegged on a sidewalk while holding a syringe and container of substance.

A man, 23, sits on the sidewalk in downtown Portland, preparing what he says is heroin, June 25, 2021. | KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF/OPB

Key Component Of Oregon’s Pioneering Drug Law Not Working In Early Months

Police officers are giving out few citations, and defendants aren’t taking advantage of the help for addiction that Ballot Measure 110 offers.

Oct 28, 2021

A registered nurse in St. Charles Bend’s intensive care unit stood outside a room where hospital staff treated an unconscious COVID-19 patient in May. | THE BULLETIN

Central Oregon Hospital Nurses Feel Despair 19 Months Into The Pandemic

Nurses at St. Charles Bend say they’re burned out after months of patients and families criticizing their work, saying the pandemic is a hoax.

Oct 28, 2021

SHUTTERSTOCK

Oregon Health Authority Putting $15M Toward Immediate Behavioral Health Incentives

The short-term spending is an initial step toward stemming losses in the behavioral health field. But advocates say the system needs long-term investments.

Oct 28, 2021
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