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CareOregon. | COURTESY OF CAREOREGON

Q&A: CEOs defend CareOregon merger plans, balk at specifics

Leaders of a California-based Medicare Advantage plan called SCAN Group and CareOregon, the Portland-based insurer that oversees government-funded care for 500,000 low-income Oregonians, said criticisms of their proposed merger don't recognize its benefits or the risks of inaction. The companies haven't disclosed long-term plans due to antitrust rules, they said — but growth is the goal.
Jan 9, 2024
Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Feds' threat to decertify state hospital over safety is not the first

Inspectors fault state hospital for adopting bad policies and then not following them, as well as unlocked doors and unsupervised patients. State leadership say they're addressing the issues.
Dec 14, 2023
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Stabbin’ Wagon holds regular outreach events at Medford’s Hawthorne Park, which has seen issues with drug use and camping among unsheltered people. Melissa Jones, the group’s leader, was arrested at the park during sweeps of homeless encampments in 2020. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Despite criticisms, Stabbin’ Wagon signs contract with health authority

The Medford nonprofit will provide a new, non-clinical mental health service even after clashing with local officials. The status of other contracts remains uncertain.
Nov 21, 2023
six faces of people shown in an online webinar
Clockwise, from left to right: Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran, moderator and Portland Axios reporter Emily Harris, Providence Health Chief Executive of Behavioral Health Robin Henderson, Portland Street Response Interim Program Manager Lielah Leighton, Jonathan Mroz of Central City Concern, Multnomah Circuit Judge Nan Waller discussed promising approaches to improve behavioral health care in Portland. | SCREENSHOT, OREGON HEALTH FORUM

Decisive action could help Portland's dysfunctional behavioral health system, experts say

An Oregon Health Forum panel agreed that action and urgency could significantly improve care for people experiencing mental health crisis and addiction in Oregon's largest city
Nov 16, 2023
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How meth is sabotaging Oregon's behavioral health system
SHUTTERSTOCK

Read our two-part series about how — despite a windfall of new funding — the state has no plan to address the 'new meth' that is overwhelming behavioral health providers and inflaming ongoing crises across the state. 

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State inaction left Oregon teens vulnerable to fentanyl’s fatal spread
A student at Harmony Academy, a high school for teens in recovery, told The Lund Report he didn't realize he was smoking fentanyl until his parent had him tested. He thought the pills he was buying were oxycodone. | EMILY GREEN/THE LUND REPORT

A lack of prevention, education and youth addiction programs opened the door to tragedy as dealers added the potent opioid to local drug markets

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