Health

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is extending last month’s state of emergency as a surge of respiratory illnesses strains the state’s hospital systems.

Hearing aids can now be sold without a prescription from a specialist. Over-the-counter, or OTC, hearing aids started hitting the market in October at prices that can be thousands of dollars lower than prescription hearing aids.

Providence announced late Friday that its neonatal intensive care unit at the Portland Medical Center may need to take emergency steps to treat critically ill infants.

Emergency rooms across the state are overflowing and in some cases worried parents are seeking hospital-level care when it’s not needed.

An Oregon-based pediatrician weighs in on how to care for children with RSV during what some doctors have called the biggest season for the respiratory virus they’ve seen in their careers.

Multnomah County leaders are considering banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products despite a recent court ruling that overturned a similar ban in neighboring Washington County.

Teens in mental health crisis – the state’s other major pediatric hospital population – are having to wait for care.

Oregon’s three largest health systems, multiple state court judges, and several counties all sought to convince Judge Michael Mosman to withdraw his order limiting stays at the state hospital. A written decision is pending, but Judge Mosman said "For now assume we are moving forward."

The shift is driven by a surge in pediatric patients with RSV, a childhood respiratory virus that is particularly dangerous for infants, and a statewide shortage of nurses.

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