Last February, Cameron Foster and her four daughters found themselves homeless. A shelter for those fleeing domestic violence served as housing for the first three months.
As a pediatrician at The Children’s Clinic in 2008, Dr. R.J. Gillespie saw a happy six-month-old baby with a clearly depressed mother. By the time that baby was nine months old, he failed his developmental screening. At age two, the child was standing in a corner screaming.
Oregon faces a $1.6 billion budget deficit, and what Van Pelt called “a complete unknown at the federal level.” Taken together, the future of Oregon’s CCOs might look bleak, with the possibility of 360,000 Oregonians who gained coverage with the expansion of Medicaid facing the loss of coverage.
Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, an orthopedic surgeon, hopes to introduce a prescription drug take-back program funded by the pharmaceutical industry during this legislative session. Among his concerns -- young people who first encounter prescription drugs leftover in medicine cabinets.
Overall, OHSU’s financial fundamentals look strong. Operating income for the first half of fiscal year 2017 was $52 million, $6 million above budget projections although below the same time last year.
An exhaustive analysis showed a need for $105 million a year on top of current spending to modernize Oregon’s state and local public health system, now ranked in the bottom five in the nation for funding.
FamilyCare has kept its board meetings private and allowed the public only to attend community advisory council meetings.
For 10 years, Mel Rader, executive director of Upstream Public Health, didn’t have access to health insurance – and he was sick for more than three of those years. His experience convinces him it’s a “moral imperative to provide health insurance for those who cannot afford it.”
As a biracial woman, Kalii Nettleton says she identifies as both black and white, and feels a responsibility to speak up. “I bridge two worlds.
The odds for implementing public health modernization are looking bleak.
Oregon’s gap between current public health funding and what’s needed to fully implement a modern public health system statewide is $26.81 per person – about $100 million.
