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The Behavioral Health Resource Center at 333 SW Park Avenue in Portland on Nov. 16, 2022. | EMILY GREEN/THE LUND REPORT

County health and social services contracts need better oversight, auditors say

Multnomah County's contract oversight practices need revamping to ensure people are getting the services they need, according to a report issued by Auditor Jennifer McGuirk. County officials say they're working on it.
Jun 27, 2024
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State Behavioral Health Director Ebony Clarke said she thinks the state needs to be audacious and bold when it comes to improving care for low-income Oregonians. | SCREENSHOT, OREGON HEALTH FORUM

Oregon behavioral health fissures add costs and block access, panel says

Oregon's notoriously fragmented system spawns administrative tasks and barriers at the expense of patients and providers, according to a panel of experts who spoke Wednesday
Jun 26, 2024
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The emergency department at Legacy Good Samaritan hospital in Portland on July 30, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Lawsuit over state's failure to provide psychiatric care can proceed, court rules

Federal appeals judges sided with Oregon hospitals and overturned a lower court ruling, but questioned whether a prime mover in Oregon State Hospital litigation — the advocacy group Disability Rights Oregon — can simultaneously represent two groups of patients with conflicting interests
Jun 5, 2024
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Gov. Tina Kotek speaks to reporters at a press event in April 2023 in Salem. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Kotek behavioral health presentation leaves questions unanswered

On Wednesday lawmakers heard about the governor’s plans to address Oregon’s crisis in mental health and substance use disorder, but some detail was lacking
May 30, 2024
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Emma Sandoe will head the state program providing free health care to 1 in 3 Oregonians. | OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY

Updated: Emma Sandoe named as next director of Oregon's Medicaid program

Sandoe hails from North Carolina's program where Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi also had worked for a time. Sandoe will bring a national reputation while heading the $28-billion Oregon Health Plan providing free health care to 1.4 million low-income people.
May 23, 2024
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This seizure on April 21, 2023 of 100,000 fentanyl pills, 3 kilograms of heroin and 1 kilogram of fentanyl in the La Grande area typifies street drugs in Oregon. | OREGON STATE POLICE

Fatal fentanyl overdoses skyrocketed in Multnomah County, report says

Oregon’s largest county details human toll from synthetic opioid and shows which communities are being affected disproportionately
May 14, 2024
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How meth is sabotaging Oregon's behavioral health system
SHUTTERSTOCK

Read our two-part series about how — despite a windfall of new funding — the state has no plan to address the 'new meth' that is overwhelming behavioral health providers and inflaming ongoing crises across the state. 

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State inaction left Oregon teens vulnerable to fentanyl’s fatal spread
A student at Harmony Academy, a high school for teens in recovery, told The Lund Report he didn't realize he was smoking fentanyl until his parent had him tested. He thought the pills he was buying were oxycodone. | EMILY GREEN/THE LUND REPORT

A lack of prevention, education and youth addiction programs opened the door to tragedy as dealers added the potent opioid to local drug markets

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