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 May AFL-CIO, Bradbury get in the ring with PhRMA initiative Oregon’s largest labor union and the secretary of state are battling PhRMA over its proposed ballot initiative. Competing ballot measures could go head to head, and both camps think they’ve got the upper hand. PhRMA is touting Measure 183, which would give low-income senior citizens $600 annually to cover prescription-drug costs, replacing the price-cap program. Oregon Health Forum honors Baumeister Oregon Health Forum honors Portland gastroenterologist Dr. Frank Baumeister at its annual achievement awards dinner on May 28. The event gets underway at 6 p.m. at The Benson Hotel with a no-host reception followed by a dinner and awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Fellow physicians characterize Baumeister as a passionate, tireless champion of doing the right thing, especially in the face of controversy or in a climate of ignorance or apathy. A role model for young physicians, he’s accustomed to asking policy makers tough questions while being open to pragmatic compromises that will improve the health of all Oregonians. Southern Oregon faces trauma crisis Southern Oregon trauma patients may find themselves in a hospital farther from home after Medford's two medical centers scaled back their level of trauma care. The Department of Human Services has approved requests from Providence Medford Medical Center and Rogue Valley Medical Center to step down to level-3 trauma service. The hospitals told regulators they could no longer guarantee level-2 staffing requirements for trauma surgeons. The change means nothing for at least 99 percent of emergency room admissions, but will bring significant changes for major-trauma patients from neighboring counties. Oregon's trauma rules forbid hospitals from transferring patients to other hospitals that provide the same level of trauma care. Patients from Klamath, Coos, and other counties who would have previously been transported to Medford are now being sent to either Eugene, Bend or Portland. Mercy faces overcrowding Hospital overcrowding in southwestern Oregon has reached a critical level, forcing regional facilities to transfer patients out of town for care. A planned $40 million expansion of Roseburg's Mercy Medical Center may offset some of the problem. Mercy currently has 155 beds; the expansion will add another 48 beds. Recently Mercy has been accepting surgical cases from Eugene and psychiatric patients from Medford when their beds were full, said Victor Fresolone, administrator. Trauma registry makes strides The state trauma registry, criticized for failing to meet some planners’ expectations, is receiving a $40,000 annual grant from the Health Resource Services Administration (HRSA). “They’re awarding 50 grants; one to each state,” said Susan Werner, the state’s trauma services coordinator. “There’s a lot of leeway in what we can use the grant for. Building a useful trauma registry falls within their guidelines.” DePaul helps pregnant teens Fighting teen alcohol and drug addiction is like taking on a forest fire with a squirt gun. Throw in an unexpected pregnancy and the battle becomes even more arduous. For women under 18, seeking treatment often means losing their children to foster care, which scares away many new and soon-to-be mothers. But a new program at DePaul Treatment Center is trying to take away that disincentive by keeping teen addicts together with their children. On April 5, a 17-year-old mother and her child became the first residents at a house DePaul rents across the street from its residential treatment facility. Eventually, it will be home to four other teens who will attend treatment programs and school with other youth addicts while receiving the skills training they’ll need to care for their children. Start-up funding came from a $50,000 private grant. Saxton: "The system is disjointed" Ron Saxton isn’t a health care expert. A corporate attorney and champion of education, he cut his teeth as chairman of the Portland School Board and insists his devotion to education will help Oregon’s health care industry because he’ll find common ground. His straight talk and reputation as a political outsider have made him a media darling. He has enjoyed the endorsements of almost all the major Oregon newspapers, leading to a surprise surge in the polls just before the primary. He recently sat down with OHF Associate Editor Rory Carroll during the heat of the campaign battle to discuss nursing, education, the Oregon Health Plan and putting the pieces together. OHF: You’ve talked a lot about your dedication to schools. When people hear that, there’s a tendency to assume health care dollars are going to be sacrificed. RS: We have the highest unemployment rate in America at eight percent. There isn’t any way we’re going to have the health care, schools or anything else we want if we keep that rate. When we get into a discussion about who are we taking money away from to meet the other needs, it’s a lose/lose. The only way to put money into schools or health care is to heal the economy and get people back to work. Keeping an eye on the mentally ill A troublesome pass policy that resulted in the escapes of several mentally ill patients from a Portland hospital was hastily rewritten in December after the state stepped in. According to documents obtained by Oregon Health Forum, the psychiatric pass policy at Adventist Medical Center was revised only days after state health regulators blamed several “elopements” — including a potentially dangerous patient who had been committed by the court for stalking — on repeated lapses in the hospital’s own polices and procedures. “These failures,” regulators reported, “resulted in a serious and immediate jeopardy to the health and safety of patients.” Also in this issue...
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