State Health Policy

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LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

Oregon nurses, doctors split on new workplace violence bill

Health care professions are divided over a bill allowing prison time for people who’ve been convicted of multiple assaults on workers, while a separate bill would boost requirements on hospitals

Mar 18
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Tillamook dialysis center delays prompt new legislation

State Rep. Cyrus Javadi says he’s introducing a bill to ensure delays to a new treatment center for kidney patients don’t happen again, saying ‘this is something we need to fix’

Mar 14
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A hallway in OHSU's main campus in Portland in September 2024 | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Physicians group raises concerns over OHSU-Legacy merger

The Oregon Academy of Family Physicians says patients may pay more to see doctors, urges officials to demand a plan to boost access and address the statewide primary care shortage

Mar 6
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Salem Health-Regence split turns spotlight on insurance company wealth

Power struggles, pressure tactics and public brinksmanship in recent disputes between health insurers and providers — such as hospitals — are all about money. Insurers have it, and providers want more of it.

Mar 4
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Drs. Sharon Quick and Brick Lantz (upper panels), as well as psychologist Angela Plowhead (lower left), testify against a bill that would make far-reaching changes to the Oregon Death with Dignity law during a Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 3, 2025. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Senators hear passionate arguments over how terminally ill patients end their lives in Oregon

Critics, including the Oregon Medical Association, say a proposal to update state’s Death with Dignity law would rush the process with harmful results

Mar 4
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Oregon House Speaker Julie Fahey (left) and Majority Leader Ben Bowman during a press availability in January 2025. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Revamped Oregon effort to curb corporate medicine faces first test

An earlier push stalled in the face of national opposition from private equity and corporate interests, but sponsors say tweaks to the bill give them hope

Feb 27
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Oregon hospitals report less spending on ‘community benefit’ programs

Hospitals spent less on charity care and other programs while still meeting state minimums, but critics say it's not enough

Feb 25
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Sejal Hathi, the director of the Oregon Health Authority, has taken a part-time job seeing patients at Stanford University's teaching hospital in California. Hathi said she misses seeing patients, will work a weekend a month and is trying to restructure the position so she receives no pay. | STATE OF OREGON

Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi defends outside job at legislative hearing

Critics say her $265,000-a-year-job is 24-7, but Hathi told lawmakers her side job won't be a distraction from Oregon's largest state agency. She plans to work a shift or two a month at Stanford University's teaching hospital .

Feb 20
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Hospitals want reimbursement for boarding psychiatric patients

Local health authorities say the move would cost them more and further confuse the question of who’s responsible for patients committed by a judge

Feb 20
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Sejal Hathi, the director of the Oregon Health Authority, has taken a part-time job seeing patients at Stanford University's teaching hospital in California. Hathi said she misses seeing patients, will work a weekend a month and is trying to restructure the position so she receives no pay. | STATE OF OREGON

Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi has taken a side job in California

Stanford University is touting its hire of Hathi, a prominent state official and a physician, to see patients at its teaching hospital. It's a paid position, but Hathi said she is talking to the university about how to avoid receiving compensation.

Feb 19
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