Portland’s overcrowded emergency rooms have become a place of last resort for psychiatric patients. Psychiatric boarding, defined as psychiatric patients’ waiting in hallways or other emergency room areas for inpatient beds, is a serious problem nationwide.
Boarding consumes precious emergency room resources and delays patients receiving treatment. It is often the result of an inability to gain timely access to community-based care - waiting lists for outpatient treatment is now up to eight weeks.
Oregon Health Forum is bringing together a panel of experts on Wednesday, May 25 who’ll look into proposed solutions by delving into this critical issue from the perspective of the institutions, the criminal courts and the hospitals. Registration is now open for this breakfast forum which gets underway at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, May 25 at the Multnomah Athletic Club.
Our esteemed panel includes:
- Dr .Christine Farentinos, CADC III, Unity Center – Legacy Health who’s been a long-time advocate of bringing a psychiatric emergency department to Portland.
- Dr. Sharon Meieran, emergency room physician, Kaiser Permanente Northwest. She’s also a member of the Community Oversight and Advisory Board, the City Council-appointed oversight for Portland’s settlement with the Department of Justice.
- Julie Frantz, Multnomah County Circuit Court Chief Criminal Judge -- Invited
- Jason Renaud, Board Officer, Mental Health Association of Portland, will moderate.
Learn more by registering today for this interactive forum and bring your questions for our panelists. If your organization is interested in supporting this breakfast forum or has ideas for future events, please contact Diane Lund-Muzikant, executive director.
Oregon Health Forum is the educational arm of The Lund Report and collaborates with other nonprofit organizations to sponsor monthly breakfast forums.
