Christie Riehl has been navigating Oregon's healthcare bureaucracy for several years now, using what she called "polite persistence" to get coverage for her daughter's dual diagnosis of developmental disability and autism.
Christie Riehl has been navigating Oregon's healthcare bureaucracy for years now, using what she called "polite persistence" to get coverage for her daughter's dual diagnosis of developmental disability and autism.
1. OHA implemented some significant restructuring within the past few months. What were your goals with taking that action? How would you evaluate progress toward those goals at this point?
On any given day, there are about 8,500 children ages 0-18 in foster care in Oregon. About 2,300 of them are in Portland's tri-county area (Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties).
After being removed as chair of the Senior Advisory Council for Elders, Bill Gentile’s concerns prompted a state investigation. Then, the Administration for Community Living (the federal agency overseeing funding through the Older Americans Act) reviewed the results, and requested a deeper look. That inquiry is now taking place from Salem into what Gentile describes as potential conflicts of interest, lack of diversity, and other issues possibly counter to federal statutes.
Legislation requiring Oregon healthcare workers to screen patients younger than 18 “who present for four or more consecutive days of unexplained diarrhea” for pathogenic E. coli bacteria is unlikely to pass because the bill was requested too late in the session.
