============================================================ Health Options Digest February 16, 2002 Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield ============================================================ * MAJOR NEWS - PeaceHealth slows pace with later annex hearing - PeaceHealth wants to wait on 59-acre annexation for hospital site - Springfield City Beat: Village people - Springfield City Council lists tentative sites for nodes * COMMENTARY - PeaceHealth's legacy - Council has a choice - High volume, low price - Musumeci's opportunity - Everybody's doing it - Hospital should be protected - Dead-end jobs - Deep Dish with Dinah: A choice cut (#375) - Deep Dish with Dinah: Guts to dine in Southtowne (#376) * OTHER NEWS - Chambers trust makes offer to buy Island Park medical center - OHSU nurses ratify contract agreement * KEY * USEFUL LINKS * CREDITS ============================================================ MAJOR NEWS ============================================================ SPRINGFIELD CITY BEAT: PEACEHEALTH SLOWS PACE WITH LATER ANNEX HEARING A public hearing on PeaceHealth's request that the city annex 59 acres near the planned hospital site in Gateway won't happen next week. PeaceHealth had wanted to go before the City Council on Tuesday, but rescheduled for April 15 after hearing from neighbors who want information on the annexation plans, PeaceHealth spokesman Brian Terrett said. "Based on some of the concerns expressed, it's not a bad idea to have some sense of what we're going to do with that property," Terrett said. "We'll put some conceptual information together." The health organization had hoped to win city support for an April hearing before the Lane County boundary commission, which oversees annexations. Now PeaceHealth is shooting for a June 6 commission hearing. That could delay plans to submit a master plan to the city later that month for the entire 161.5-acre parcel, which includes the new $350 million hospital, surrounding commercial and residential development and use of the 59-acre parcel to the northeast. "They were feeling a little bit rushed trying to make the April (boundary commission) hearings, and so were we," city planner Colin Stephens said. The extra time will allow the city and PeaceHealth to negotiate when to provide infrastructure and who pays for what, he said. To submit comments for the April 15 hearing, write Stephens at least two weeks before, at the Development Services Department, city of Springfield, 225 Fifth St. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020216/1b.cr.spcitybeat.0216.html [Matt Cooper, RG city & region story, 2/16/02, page 1B] ------------------------------------------------------------ PEACEHEALTH WANTS TO WAIT ON 59-ACRE ANNEXATION FOR HOSPITAL SITE After applying to the city and Lane County to annex 59 acres near its proposed hospital site into the city, PeaceHealth Oregon Region has asked the city to pull the application from the docket until April. The property, most of it east of Baldy View Lane bordering the McKenzie River, is zoned for medium-density residential use. In the application, PeaceHealth Oregon's chief executive officer, Alan Yordy, says the proposed use is future residential development. The Bellevue, Wash.-based PeaceHealth filed paperwork on Jan. 31, and city officials had scheduled a public hearing on annexation for Feb. 25. Because PeaceHealth asked to postpone the hearing, the issue won't appear on the City Council's agenda, Gino Grimaldi, Springfield assistant city manager, said Thursday. (more...) http://www.springfieldnews.com/news/community/sn_community-01.htm#TopOfPage http://www.springfieldnews.com/2002/news0216/community/sn_community-01.htm#TopOfPage [Tim Shinabarger, SN community story, 2/16/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ SPRINGFIELD CITY BEAT: VILLAGE PEOPLE What do Glenwood, downtown, Mohawk, Jasper-Natron and Gateway have in common? Those areas are the early favorites for the development of urban villages. The buzzword describing these projects is "nodes," but the city is trying to steer clear of that term. They're places where people live, work and shop, reducing the need to drive elsewhere. One of the best local examples is Broadway Place in Eugene, a mix of apartments and stores off Charnelton by the downtown mall. Springfield must identify five or six areas by May. The City Council identified the five sites as possibilities, although planner Susanna Julber said there's still much research to be done. You can weigh in during open houses at 5:15 p.m. Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 in the Library Meeting Room at City Hall, 225 Fifth St. Once the sites have been selected, zoning will require pedestrian-friendly features, close proximity to transit and mixed-use projects such as apartments on top of offices, Julber said. The city could well see its first such village by 2006, if plans for the PeaceHealth medical center and surrounding development are approved in Gateway, she said. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020216/1b.cr.spcitybeat.0216.html [Matt Cooper, RG city & region story, 2/16/02, page 1B] ------------------------------------------------------------ SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL LISTS TENTATIVE SITES FOR NODES Although the Springfield City Council likes the concept, it doesn't like the name. So instead of referring to a "nodal development," the council is trying to come up with a new term for a planned community -- and the council has several such communities in mind. The council's task in Monday night's work session was to appoint a council representative to an already-for med steering committee, which will choose priority sites for nodal developments and provide a link to the community. Council President Lyle Hatfield volunteered to represent the council on the committee. Councilors also discussed several sites that could be developed into communities that meet the following requirements: They are near a transit stop and they include mixed uses, public spaces such as parks and a mix of housing types. Those are the characteristics of nodal development as defined in the Eugene-Springfield Metro-politan Area Transportation Plan. The city plans to add its own Nodal Development Overlay Zone and Mixed Use Zoning District designations to the mix. High priority sites must be chosen for study by May. A consultant will then be hired to conduct market analyses and traffic studies on the sites, as well as work with the steering committee. After each councilor mentioned the sites he or she was specifically interested in, the council generally agreed on the following as a starting point: * Glenwood, along Franklin Boulevard, where a Bus Rapid Transit stop is already planned. * Downtown Springfield, also close to the BRT station, which is still in the planning stages. * Two sites in the Jasper-Natron area. * Along Mohawk Boulevard. * The PeaceHealth site on Game Farm Road. (more...) http://springfieldnews.com/2002/news0213/frontpage/sn_frontpage-01.htm#TopOfPage [Anne Thomas, SN front page story, 2/13/02] ============================================================ COMMENTARY ============================================================ PEACEHEALTH'S LEGACY Rural health care is in grave jeopardy in America. Few health care providers are willing to do what PeaceHealth has done to keep hospitals open in rural Oregon. While most areas are seeing rural hospitals close, PeaceHealth has worked to keep two open. These were not hospitals PeaceHealth already owned and in which it had an investment to protect. Rather, PeaceHealth invested millions of dollars -- money it may never recoup -- to purchase and turn around financially struggling hospitals. Hospitals are important to rural communities. Thanks to PeaceHealth, Lane County has two more than it would have otherwise. If memory serves, McKenzie-Willamette and others declined to help Cottage Grove Hospital. Only PeaceHealth stepped up to the challenge. PeaceHealth's legacy in Lane County is assisting communities to maintain local medical services, including emergency care. I know that I speak for others who, like me, appreciate the fact that PeaceHealth chose to invest in our community. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020210/ed.letters.0210.html [Barbara R. Gant, Cottage Grove, RG letter to editor, 2/10/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ COUNCIL HAS A CHOICE McKenzie-Willamette Hospital has been my family's hospital of choice for many years, but I may soon be denied that choice. A Feb. 3 Register-Guard article said that a "Jury may set course for region's health care." That article meant a courtroom jury, but the jury likely to have the biggest voice for the future of McKenzie-Willamette could be the Springfield City Council. The council will decide if the Gateway site will be rezoned to accommodate PeaceHealth. The current zoning and adopted land use plans were the result of hard work by committed citizens and staff and were supposed to be the blueprint for a unique neighborhood compatible with its surroundings. The Gateway Plan and the PeaceHealth proposal are incompatible. Will elected Springfield officials trash these plans, and McKenzie-Willamette to boot? It's unlikely PeaceHealth bought the Gateway site at a tremendously inflated price without pretty strong signals that key council members were ready to accommodate them. But that was before the potential demise of McKenzie-Willamette became quite so clear. Springfield's historic partnership with McKenzie-Willamette is at the crossroad, and the continued existence of the hospital is at stake. McKenzie-Willamette is a great hospital and a tax-paying member of our community. Now is the time for citizens to speak up. The citizens of Springfield need to understand that their council has a choice to make, but there's no "win-win" here for Springfield; it's an "either-or" choice. Let your leaders know that you care about McKenzie-Willamette and are not willing to trade it for PeaceHealth. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020210/ed.letters.0210.html [Tom R. Bowerman, Eugene, RG letter to editor, 2/10/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ HIGH VOLUME, LOW PRICE At last! Two health care financial experts speak out. Skip Kriz and Bess Price of PeaceHealth's Oregon region spoke the truth (Register-Guard, Feb. 4): "As with most businesses, the greater the volume, the lower the overall cost. Health care is no exception... In health care, more volume also translates into improved quality because an experienced, seasoned health care team produces better results." I couldn't have said it better myself! And what greater volume of patients than the entire state of Oregon under the Health Care for All Oregonians initiative? (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020214/ed.letters.0214.html [George R. Clarke, Eugene, RG letter to editor, 2/14/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ MUSUMECI'S OPPORTUNITY The looming deficit in the education budget for the Eugene School District and others hit the front pages last week. I was suddenly struck by the excellent opportunity it presents for developer John Musumeci and his now depleted Gang of 9. I remembered the heart-rending article of a week or two ago describing his plight. He was frantically seeking refuge for the $18 million extra so unthinkingly dumped on him by PeaceHealth, doubling his investment in the land that the health organization purchased. Why doesn't Musumeci give some of these extra millions to the Eugene School District? They would have a shortfall of only $8 million, so he could cover the entire amount, and still have another $10 million for future scams (oops, sorry, schemes). If he didn't wish to take all the glory, perhaps some or all of the depleted Gang of 9 could contribute as well to this very socially responsible cause. In this manner they no doubt could prove to the voters of this area, and perhaps even some of the majority nonvoters, their positive intent and good will toward the community! Why, some of the glory might even reflect on PeaceHealth! (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020215/ed.letters.0215.html [Bob Thompson, Eugene, RG letter to editor, 2/15/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ EVERYBODY'S DOING IT I admit I haven't read all the letters to the editor in recent weeks, but I haven't seen anyone mention that McKenzie-Willamette isn't totally innocent of making deals like the one PeaceHealth is supposed to have with Regence Blue Cross. When presented with options at renewal of insurance last summer, I found that my employer was offering me four "choices" through PacificSource. In order to get the best coverage, I would have to give up my current physician and nurse practitioner on my side of town. And if I have surgery, I'll get nailed because I didn't select the option that makes McKenzie-Willamette my hospital. Not only is McKenzie-Willamette making deals with insurance companies, too, but the largest providers in the area are conferring with one another as well. In September, the speech therapists I work with were hit with a bombshell by three insurers on the same day. Providence, PacificSource and Regence Blue Cross announced they were no longer going to cover a majority of our services to children. What a coincidence that they would all make this decision at the same time! Oh, and it was retroactive to early August, so our clients had incurred charges that their insurers were refusing to pay. None of the care providers or insurance carriers should be throwing stones right now. But there are enough rocks around that their patients are probably entitled to toss. Figuratively speaking, of course. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020216/ed.letters.op.0216.html [Kris Wilson, Eugene, RG letter to editor, 2/16/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ HOSPITAL SHOULD BE PROTECTED McKenzie-Willamette is MY hospital. In 1951 we pledged to make it a reality. It took me a while to pay our pledge but our names are on the big bronze plate. McKenzie-Willamette has a special "spirit." The wonderful dedicated volunteers and highly skilled professional staff have brought me through several life-threatening illnesses. Do you remember the Eugene Hospital & Clinic at 12th and Willamette? It was the only hospital to pay taxes in Oregon. It was driven out by PeaceHealth and gobbled up. I am shocked and very angry that a tax-exempt "religious" organization refuses freedom to ordinary citizens to choose their health care servers and denies freedom to medical people. The blatant attempt to destroy and drive out of existence our wonderful McKenzie-Willamette is most unseemly for a supposedly "Christian" organization. Protect McKenzie-Willamette! Do not allow this destruction of our own community hospital built by ordinary citizens of this community. (end) [SN letter to editor, 2/16/02] http://www.springfieldnews.com/news/opinion/sn_opinion-05.html#TopOfPage ------------------------------------------------------------ DEAD-END JOBS The list of the 20 fastest growing occupations in Oregon (Register-Guard, Feb. 3) is dismal. Of the 20 listed, only two -- registered nurses and post-secondary teachers -- require a degree. At least eight of the listed jobs require very little training and pay poverty level wages. I've worked in several of these low-paying, dead-end jobs. As a single person with no dependents, I managed. But it was a struggle. I lived with roommates or in boarding houses, ate the cheapest food I could find and bought all my clothes and possessions at second-hand stores or garage sales. The most I ever earned was $8 an hour. Only one of these jobs offered health coverage, which I declined. Even at the discounted group rate, I couldn't afford it. I couldn't afford any sort of vehicle either, and walked or rode the bus. Always. Worst of all, I had absolutely no savings. If I missed a day or two because of illness, I ate ramen noodle soup and day-old bread from the bakery outlet. If I'd had an injury or illness that sidelined me for a week or more, I would have been up a creek. No one could support a family or even just one child on what these jobs pay, at least, not without public assistance. I know all too well there comes a time when any job is better than none. And there are some folks who start out at the bottom rung and through hard work and determination make their way upward. (My husband is one of these.) I salute them all. But I truly believe that most of us, working long hours at exhausting low-wage jobs, find ourselves stuck there. These kinds of jobs perpetuate, even increase, poverty in the long run. I wish I had the answers. But I do know this much: Low-paid, no-benefits jobs are a very poor foundation for the health and prosperity of any person, family, community or nation. (end) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020211/ed.letters.0211.html [Desiree Valenzuela, Springfield, RG letter to editor, 2/11/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ DEEP DISH WITH DINAH: A CHOICE CUT (#375) Regarding Eugene's hospital, a small support group has formed after the near-death experience (Sacred Heart's move to Crescent Drive) followed by the death experience (Sacred Heart's move to Gateway). CHOICES (Coalition for Health Options in Central Eugene-Springfield) is doing more than wringing its hands. They are distributing a Health Options Digest via email summing up each week's relevant news. Separately, McKenzie-Willamette Hospital is quite interested to know how Eugene feels about the Springfield hospital pulling up its roots and replanting itself in downtown Eugene. It all depends on the lawsuit of course, and on PeaceHealth's plans to keep a full-fledged trauma center at their Hilyard Street location. If Eugene and Springfield ultimately end up swapping hospitals, the fundraising battles will be bruising. If you thought the tussle got ugly over the federal courthouse, avert your eyes for this one. (And stop reading now.) Rubberneckers I know will be watching one little corner of health care: women's care. Did anyone notice that M-W was first to offer true birthing rooms, leaving P-H to play catch-up? Women's rights has been a festering wound in the side of Eugene ever since all its health care choices got bought up by a bunch of well-meaning-but-celibate nuns. Did anyone mention contraceptives and abortions? No; and nobody will. But that doesn't mean the wound has healed. There appears to be a little puss oozing around the edges, which may be telltale signs of a lingering infection. And if something dramatic happens to rip that scab right off, we could have a bloody poison mess. (end) http://www.something2eat.com/features.cfm?columnist=1&RequestedArticleID=160 [Dinah, CN commentary, #375] ------------------------------------------------------------ DEEP DISH WITH DINAH: GUTS TO DINE IN SOUTHTOWNE (#376) Here's the Whopper of the Week. Matt Cooper in the R-G quotes Springfield City Manager Mike Kelly about John Musumeci's sudden/sullen withdrawal from a bidding war with business powerhouse Carolyn Chambers: "[Musumeci] went in with a gracious heart." Ask anyone who has had negotiations of any sort with this man. A gracious heart is not what you'll hear about, unless you're scribing for the daily paper. (end) http://www.something2eat.com/features.cfm?columnist=1&RequestedArticleID=161 [Dinah, CN commentary, #376] ============================================================ OTHER NEWS ============================================================ CHAMBERS TRUST MAKES OFFER TO BUY ISLAND PARK MEDICAL CENTER The Carolyn S. Chambers Trust has offered to buy the Island Park Medical Center property just west of downtown for $2.64 million. Springfield officials will decide Tuesday whether to exercise an option to purchase the property from owners Island Park Partners LLC and simultaneously sell it to the trust, according to city records. Carolyn S. Chambers, trustee of the Chambers Trust, is chairwoman of Chambers Construction Co. and president and owner of Chambers Communication Corp., 2975 Chad Drive, Eugene. Councilors will consider a draft purchase and sale agreement between the city and Chambers Trust. The draft is a 26-page document that was drawn up Thursday. The medical center property is between Island Park and Mill Street. It includes the entire city block between A and B streets and a strip of land south of A Street between Mill Street and the park. According to the draft agreement, the Chambers Trust has already deposited $10,000 into escrow. The city has paid a total of $39,100 to Island Park Partners LLC to secure its option to purchase the roughly three-acre property for $2.6 million. Springfield took out the option on Nov. 1, 2000, during the effort to persuade federal decision-makers to locate a new federal courthouse on the property. The city renewed the option twice, paying landowners $26,000 in February 2001 and $13,000 at the end of October for a final 120-day extension. The extension expires at the end of February. City Manager Mike Kelly said Feb. 4 that the city had received an offer on the property but declined to name the bidder. (more...) http://www.springfieldnews.com/news/frontpage/sn_frontpage-01.htm#TopOfPage http://www.springfieldnews.com/2002/news0216/frontpage/sn_frontpage-01.htm#TopOfPage [Tim Shinabarger, SN front page story, 2/16/02] ------------------------------------------------------------ OHSU NURSES RATIFY CONTRACT AGREEMENT Portland -- Striking nurses approved a contract agreement with Oregon Health & Sciences University on Sunday, bringing an end to a 56-day walkout. The nurses voted 736-118 in favor of the new contract and will return to work Wednesday, according to Oregon Nurses Association spokesman Jim Berialt. (more...) http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020211/3d.cr.digest.0211.html [RG city & region story, 2/11/02, page 3D] ============================================================ KEY ============================================================ "Health Options Digest" is best read with an email program that recognizes links to web pages. It includes leads from and links to stories and opinions from the following publications: RG = The Register-Guard SN = Springfield News (Follow first link if item is still current, second link if item is past.) EW = Eugene Weekly (Follow first link if item is still current, second link if item is past.) CN = Comic News ODE = Oregon Daily Emerald Oregonian ============================================================ USEFUL LINKS ============================================================ PEACEHEALTH - WILLAMETTE VALLEY http://www.peacehealth.org/Community/owv/ MCKENZIE-WILLAMETTE HOSPITAL http://www.mckweb.com/ CITY OF SPRINGFIELD http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/ http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/calendar.htm CITY OF EUGENE http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/ http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/Council/Agenda/AGENDA.htm http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/council/agenda/CCAGENDA.pdf OREGON DEPARTMENT OF LAND CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT http://www.lcd.state.or.us/ ARLIE & COMPANY http://www.arlie.com/ ============================================================ CREDITS ============================================================ "Health Options Digest" is published once or twice a week by the Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) as a service to the community. It is intended as an unbiased digest of news and commentary related to proposed changes in health care options for the community. The purpose of "Health Options Digest" is to inform, not editorialize. Please forward your copy of "Health Options Digest" to a friend. If you know of someone who should be on the CHOICES email list, send email to rzako@efn.org.