Health Care

An injunction that further limits patient stays at the state’s psychiatric facility is now being questioned by district attorneys, hospital systems and others.

Measure 111 makes Oregon the first state in the nation with a constitutional obligation to provide access to affordable health care to all its residents, similar to the constitutional guarantee of a public K-12 education.

Measure 111 does not spell out what the state must do to meet its new constitutional obligation , or define what access to affordable health care means.

Veterans who don’t qualify for the Oregon Health Plan can start applying for a state-funded dental program that began Nov. 1.

The union’s proposal, were it to pass, would make Oregon one of just three states to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios.

The number of abortions per month in Oregon went up by 18% in August, after the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Oregon will roll out a number of first in the nation changes to its Medicaid program over the next five years. Top among them: continuous coverage for kids through their 6th birthday and spending on food and housing for certain in-transition populations.

Oregon hospitals are full of patients, running low on nurses and bleeding money.

St. Charles Health System leaders adopted “crisis standards of care” to avoid having to comply with rules that govern nurse staffing levels. They rescinded the move after OHA said it would violate state law.

The Oregon Nurses Association announced last week that 40 health care technical workers were forming a union at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton.