MEDIA ALERT
OHSU President Peter Kohler to Speak on the Health Care Access Crisis at the Rotary Club of Portland
WHAT: Addressing the Health Care Crisis, Peter Kohler, M.D., president of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
Kohlers presentation will focus on the link between rising health care costs, the aging population and the growing number of uninsured people. He will discuss the role of public funding in potentially addressing this crisis, including the problem of physician availability in caring for Medicaid and Medicare patients. Kohler will comment on the Oregon Health Plan in terms of both successes and failures. In addition, he will describe a new delivery model that would focus on prevention, lower cost encounters and the need for decision-supporting software development. Use of teams to provide care could achieve the goals of expanding access while mitigating the shortage of nurses and physicians, says Kohler.
WHEN: Tuesday, April 4, noon
WHERE: Governor Hotel, Third floor ballroom, 611 S.W. 10th Ave. Portland, Oregon. For information or reservations, call 503 228-1542.
DETAILS: Kohler has served as president of OHSU since 1988. OHSU is committed to the well-being of medically underserved populations and is encouraging a public dialogue to find equitable and compassionate solutions to the crisis of access.
Senate Committee Comes To OHSU To Discuss Providing Health Insurance For Children
WHAT: State Interim Committee on Children's Health Care will meet to discuss providing health care insurance to uninsured children.
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday, April 3
WHERE: OHSU Child Development and Rehabilitation Center (CDRC), Room 3200, 707 S.W. Gaines Rd., Marquam Hill Campus, Portland
WHO: Committee members include: Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, chairwoman; Jackie Winters, vice chairwoman; Margaret Carter; Jeff Kruse; and Bill Morrisette. Other invited state legislators include: Sen. Ginny Burdick; Rep. Mary Nolan; and Rep. Sara Gelser.
Jim Ledbetter, director of the OHSU Oregon Center for Youth and Children with Special Health Care Needs at CDRC, will discuss proposed legislation for a children's health insurance plan.
Others testifying include representatives from the Department of Human Services; Office of Private Health Partnerships; Oregon Covering Kids Initiative; Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities; Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs; Oregon Nurses Association; Association of Oregon Counties; Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs and the Commission on Children and Families.
The public also is invited to testify.
DETAILS: Approximately 117,000 children in Oregon are uninsured. And if recent trends hold true, more kids each year will grow up without health care insurance, which translates into inadequate or no health care. The percentage of children without health insurance has risen from 10.1 percent in 2002 to 12.3 percent in 2004.
For more information about the meeting, contact CDRC public policy liaison Andrew Morris at morrisa@ohsu.edu or 503 418-1436.
To read a recent OHSU study about providing health insurance for Oregon's children, please visit: www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/newspub/releases/011906children.cfm.
OHSU Physician to Testify in Salem on Emergency Use Trends by Uninsured Oregonians and Impacts to Health Care System
WHAT: "Emergency Department Use and Access to Care," invited testimony to the Senate Commission on Health Care Access and Affordability, by Robert Lowe, MD, MPH, director of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine.
Lowe will discuss how trends in emergency department (ED) use can help pinpoint when health care access issues may be facing a crisis point. He will present results from studies analyzing ED use trends statewide of uninsured and Oregon Health Plan patients. He will comment on the underlying factors influencing why these groups rely on emergency departments for health care, the health care consequences to the uninsured, and provide examples of how changes to primary care delivery strategies could begin to address the problem. He will also discuss the broader effect of rising ED use by uninsured people on Oregon's health care system, including strain on ED and trauma centers and cost shifts to insured patients and employers.
WHEN: Friday, March 10, 2006, 8:30 am.
WHERE: Oregon State Capitol, 900 Court Street, N.E. Salem Oregon 97301
Room HR 350
DETAILS: Lowe is an associate professor of emergency medicine, public health/preventive medicine and medical informatics/clinical epidemiology in the OHSU School of Medicine. OHSU is committed to the well-being of medically underserved populations and is encouraging wide participation in public dialogues to find equitable and compassionate solutions to the crisis of access.
