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I've spent most of my adult life in Boston, though an Oregon native, returned now for about 3 years. The last two encounters our family has had with emergency rooms (both St. Vincents) have both been disastrous:

1. My father fell about 10 feet while trimming a lilac. In his early 70's, he was taken via ambulance to St. Vincents. He was ambulatory, but complained of pains in his torso. My mother and he requested an Xray. Emergency room staff demurred, then at my mother's insistence called his regular doctor, whose staff they said did not OK the procedure. Dad went home. As a person who was never ill, he did not follow up with the doctor. He never slept in a bed again, due to discomfort. He was dead within 6 months.

2. I took my mother to the emergency room one night with considerable chest pain and dizziness. The lobby was mobbed, with patients lying on the floor, all chairs full. It looked like a refugee center. It was during flu season, though there was no other unusual event going on. The staff did a brief billing interview, during which no query as to her symptoms was made, though we volunteered some information (which was not written down). In the course of a 1 hour wait with no treatment, we saw only 2 patients go into the medical area. When I asked, I was told there would be another 5 hours wait. I took my now-weakening mother home. In over twenty years in Boston, some spent working in a hospital, I'd never seen anything like it.

So in our experience, Oregon emergency rooms are either ineffectual or deeadly, take your pick.

p.s. Though it shouldn't be relevant, both these patients had Medicare WITH supplemental Blue Cross coverage.

posted 4 years, 5 months ago
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The last potential venture boom I heard about for Oregon was biotech. The expected flow of startups never seemed to happen, even though many conferences, consultants, and VC firms were active. Watching from the sidelines with a background in successful startups in New England, it seemed that the reason why was partially a mismatch between the entrepreneurial climate here in Oregon and VC expectations.

As we stand at the threshold of another potential boom in Green Tech, I ask: what will be done differently this time to ensure that THIS time, the startups actually materialize?

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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The last industry that was supposed to spin off many venture-funded businesses in OR was biotech. Despite lots of talk, lots of dollars spent with consultants from CA, lots of entrepreneurial ideas being floated, and many many conferences and meetings, biotech growth here has not been impressive. Do the candidates agree? What would they do differently to grow "Green" business more successfully?

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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As a woman and a Hilary supporter, I found Palin's acceptance speech laughable. The campaign's attempt to position her as the heir apparant of Hilary's voters is an insult to both Hilary and her base. I did not support Hilary because of her chromosomes - I supported her because of her political expertise, positions on issues, demonstrated strength of character, powerful contacts, and deep understanding of global issues.

Oh, and if governor Palin wants to reform Washington's ethics, perhaps she should start with her running mate's staff, and root out the Karl Rove disciples.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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I've been taking care of elders in my family, and I still disagree with this policy. It is too easy to use it to harass people who are simply disliked. It also promotes a kind of deception in caregiving that is very common, where the caregiver pretends to agree with an elder who is in denial about their decreasing abilities. I totally agree with Mr. Rohter that elders should be tested more often, and that this anonymous reporting policy should be dropped.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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