Oregon Health Authority

Reductions in the state's low-income health care program are forcing Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah counties to contemplate eliminating the bulk of their staffing for programs intended to help the severely mentally ill. The cuts are not related to federal cuts expected to take effect in later years.

Patrick Allen joined OPB's “Think Out Loud” to discuss his time running the state health agency during the height of the pandemic, and what he learned working through a once-in-a-century crisis.

The Oregon Health Authority has confirmed the state’s first measles case of 2025, in Multnomah County.

Anonymous staff at the hospital said they have been coached on what not to say to inspectors in the past.

When someone accused of a crime is found unable to aid and assist in their own defense, they are sent to the Oregon State Hospital for an evaluation. After that, they often need to spend time at a residential treatment center until they are fit to stand trial. A new rule from the Oregon Health Authority requires residential treatment facilities in the state to accept those patients ahead of any who might be on their waiting list, setting aside their normal admissions standards. Attorneys for the Oregon Council for Behavioral Health and six residential treatment providers filed a petition with the Oregon Court of Appeals to block that rule. We hear from Heather Jefferis, executive director of the Oregon Council for Behavioral Health, about the challenges faced by behavioral health providers in Oregon.

The state has wrestled for years with ordering civil commitments for people with severe mental illness. Here’s what you need to know.

The Oregon Health Authority said the Trump administration has canceled roughly $117 million in COVID-era grants.

Advocates are concerned that a new Oregon Health Authority rule will substitute one civil rights violation for another.

Stanford University’s School of Medicine recently named Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi to a part-time position on its faculty, meaning she’ll see patients in California one weekend a month while, during the week, overseeing the 5,000-employee Oregon agency’s operations at a challenging time.

Rep. Tawna Sanchez has introduced HB 3198, a bill proposing the Oregon Health Authority’s involvement in responding to missing and murdered Indigenous people cases to improve coordination and support for affected communities.