chris bouneff

Portland Police Lt. Cliff Bacigalupi was a seasoned street cop when his police chief asked him to head up a new unit designed to address an unintended but growing part of the police force’s scope of practice -- performing triage on the high number of people with mental illness in Portland who are not receiving appropriate care and end up the source of 911 calls.

April 10, 2013 — Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, teamed up with Sen. Brian Boquist, R-McMinnville, on Tuesday to press for Senate Bill 823, a broad-sweeping set of policy guidelines aimed at providing more comprehensive and proactive community mental health across the state of Oregon.

April 25, 2012 – Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon's decision to slash mental health benefits and impose a much higher deductible for medical care and prescription coverage has consumer advocates upset. About 30,000 Oregonians who have individual policies will feel the impact starting October 1.

March 1, 2012—By July, the Oregon Health Authority is expected to begin providing real-time data to the Central Oregon Health Council, which coordinates the care of Oregon Health Plan patients in Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties, on the mental health drugs used by people living in that area.