The Lund Report

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CareOregon. | COURTESY OF CAREOREGON

Proposed CareOregon merger was unlawful, state lawyers concluded

CareOregon leaders stood to win big, but a review said the public interest would suffer if the nonprofit merged with California-based SCAN Group. Proponents don't agree.

Feb 20, 2024

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Lucas Coghill, 9, plays the PAX Good Behavior Game during class at Fern Hill Elementary School in Forest Grove, Ore., Nov. 9, 2023. The game focuses on helping students identify and encourage positive “PAX” behaviors and avoid “spleems” as part of daily classroom management. | KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF/OPB/THE LUND REPORT

Prevention in schools gets help from Oregon Health Plan

Health care funds have gone to help schools adopt programs that reduce addiction and disease later in life

Feb 15, 2024

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The Capitol Building in Salem. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Lawmakers want to scrap state approval needed for many new health care facilities

New psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care facilities must prove their services are needed, but critics and supporters disagree on the certification system’s effects

Feb 15, 2024
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Many counterfeit pills containing fentanyl are indistinguishable from oxycodone. | U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION

Oregon Education Department seeks funding for fentanyl, opioid prevention

The agency says the money would allow it to better oversee a new law approved in 2023, but prevention experts say the department should rethink its approach

Feb 15, 2024
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CareOregon. | COURTESY OF CAREOREGON

CareOregon merger proposal scrapped amid opposition, concerns

Proposed merger sparked criticism from former Gov. John Kitzhaber, concerns from state merger oversight office

Feb 13, 2024
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PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield. | CHRISTIAN WIHTOL/THE LUND REPORT

Eugene lawmaker hopes to cut ambulance delays in wake of hospital closure

Patients are waiting longer to get care in the wake of University District hospital’s closure in Eugene, and Rep. Nancy Nathanson wants to fund an ambulance to change that

Feb 13, 2024
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Sterling Hanakahi, 73, and Anita Hanakahi, 70, of Tillamook say they were blindsided when Texas-based U.S. Renal Care executives announced they would close their kidney dialysis center in the coastal community Feb. 23. Anita has relied on the center for the past nine years. For her and 10 other local patients, she said, local dialysis treatment is a matter of life and death. | COURTESY OF ANITA HANAKAHI

Company says it will keep Tillamook dialysis clinic open until patients have care

Texas-based firm appears to back off on Feb. 23 closure date that patients called a death sentence

Feb 13, 2024
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SHUTTERSTOCK

At some Oregon hospitals, inpatient psychiatric units face uncertain future

Hospital behavioral health units are chronic money losers because insurers fail to cover the full cost of care

Feb 13, 2024

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The Oregon Capitol in Salem, Ore. on March 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Oregon lawmakers want answers on insurance mandates’ cost, coverage

Oregon lawmakers considered more than 20 requirements on insurance coverage since 2021. A bill would create a panel tasked with answering how future mandates affect health care.

Feb 8, 2024
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A cake that was served at the grand opening of the Recovery Works NW detox in Southeast Portland on Aug. 18, 2023. The withdrawal management facility was funded through Measure 110. | EMILY GREEN/THE LUND REPORT

Lies, damned lies — and Measure 110 statistics?

Both sides of Oregon’s drug decriminalization debate are citing statistics to draw opposite conclusions, sometimes irresponsibly

Feb 8, 2024
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