State Health Policy

A pile of flowers and a note eulogizing Bobby Smallwood, a security officer for Legacy Health, sit outside the Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was killed during a confrontation on July 30, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Oregon lawmakers seek stiffer charges for assaults on hospital workers

Many states consider assaults on medical workers a felony, but efforts to follow suit in Salem have foundered on civil rights concerns

Oct 26
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Oregon State Hospital in Salem. | BEN BOTKIN/THE LUND REPORT

Judge blasts Marion County’s use of Oregon State Hospital

Ruling suggests a federal jurist is tiring of local officials challenging his order placing time limits on stays in the Oregon State Hospital

Oct 19
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SHUTTERSTOCK/LUND REPORT ILLUSTRATION

State seeks Universal Health Plan Governance Board director

Applications are being accepted for the new position, which will play a key role in helping the board develop a potentially sweeping overhaul of the state’s health care system

Oct 17
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CareOregon is among 16 coordinated care organizations in Oregon serving Medicaid members. | LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

CareOregon merger proposal draws mixed reaction

Supporters of the nonprofit’s absorption by a California-based group say it will strengthen care for the vulnerable, while critics fear a loss of focus and control for Oregon

Oct 12

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Audit faults the state’s ‘poor’ monitoring of Oregon Health Plan contractor

The audit found vulnerable patients received improper care after the agency didn’t check the work of Comagine Health

Oct 9
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Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at the signing of the health care staffing bill on Aug. 15, 2023 at the Capitol in Salem, Ore. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Kotek closes in on new Oregon Health Authority director pick

New director will take over a crucial agency that’s lacked a permanent leader for seven months

Oct 5
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Jordan Morelli, a supervisor at the David Romprey Oregon Warmline, pauses in between calls. Morelli has worked at the warmline for about nine years, taking calls from people who need help talking through mental health struggles. | COURTESY COMMUNITY COUNSELING SOLUTIONS

Oregon ‘warmline’ provides record mental health support, but cuts loom

State officials have called the service ‘essential’ and a money-saver, but want others in the fragmented behavioral health system to step up with funding

Oct 3
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Dave Baden, interim director of the Oregon Health Authority, speaks to the House Interim Committee On Behavioral Health and Health Care on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, about the financial strength of the state’s Medicaid insurers. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Insurers’ high pandemic profits from Oregon Health Plan spark legislative hearing

Citing reporting by The Lund Report, lawmakers highlighted more than $400 million in profits, which insurers defended as needed reserves and money for future community investments

Sep 28
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Rachael Banks, who served as public health director for the state of Oregon for three years, was appointed in September 2023 to head the Multnomah County Health Department. The position requires board confirmation. | COURTESY MULTNOMAH COUNTY

State Public Health Director Rachael Banks leaving for a top job at Multnomah County

After three years at the Oregon Health Authority, Banks will return to the county to head its health department, if confirmed.

Sep 25
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State accuses local pharmacy owner of pocketing money under HIV program

A lawsuit from the state centers on a complicated federal program that helps low-income people access HIV treatments

Sep 21
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