Health Options Digest
July 11, 2004
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)
In This Issue
From the Editor
Week In Review
News happens, even if you are enjoying summer in Oregon, be it at the Oregon Country Fair, the Oregon Bach Festival, or on your favorite river. This past week was anything but dull.
PeaceHealth finally responded publicly to the defeat they suffered last month at the Court of Appeals. In a recent op-ed, members of the PeaceHealth board wrote: "RiverBend is ... the perfect site for a hospital built around a healing environment. ... We look forward to an end to lawsuits and the beginning of construction, which will signal the beginning of a new chapter in better health care in our community." In short, even though they lost in court, PeaceHealth's primary position is that they see no reason to change their plans to build at RiverBend.
But a secondary position is starting to emerge, one that hints of an ultimate compromise of sorts. They write: "If the courts prevent us from pursuing the dream, we will have to accept that." If? In the past, PeaceHealth has always dismissed court decisions on land use issues as minor technicalities -- speed bumps rather than road blocks. This op-ed is the first time PeaceHealth has admitted that not only isn't a hospital at RiverBend a "done deal," it might not happen at all. Moreover, while still criticizing the Eugene City Council, they appear to be experiencing some "seller's remorse." Seeing that Eugene is looking at helping McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center move to Eugene (a move that PeaceHealth itself has forced by planning to move so close to McKenzie-Willamette's current location), PeaceHealth sounds like they might like some helping staying or relocating in Eugene, too.
All of this self-doubt on the part of PeaceHealth may ultimately bode well. Maybe they will recognize enough uncertainty in and problems with their own plans that they will appreciate the value of talking with others in good faith about what makes the most sense for PeaceHealth, for McKenzie-Willamette, for Springfield, for Eugene, and indeed for the whole community.
Meanwhile, a week after we learn that McKenzie-Willamette lost significant money last year, we learn that negotiations to renew a contract with hospital service employees have broken down. Even though McKenzie-Willamette now has the support of Triad, it still can't continue operating a hospital -- and paying employees fairly -- if it is losing money.
PeaceHealth is right in their op-ed: The community should be looking at not just land use issues but implications for health care in our community. What happens if we don't have two financially viable hospitals?
A major factor in "Musical Hospitals" is the doctors. It doesn't matter where a hospital is or how great the facilities if no doctors practice there. So it is interesting to learn that the traditional division of doctors between those who practice in Springfield at McKenzie-Willamette and those in Eugene at Sacred Heart is breaking down.
Springfield is talking about quitting the land use plan common to Eugene, Springfield and Lane County and going its own way. Think of a divorce due to irreconcilable differences. But just as in a long-term marriage, Springfield is likely to learn that, despite all the real challenges, Springfield's fate is tied to that of Eugene and it is better offer trying to work together than separately.
Lastly, is common ground breaking out? Could Eugene and Springfield "imagine" what John Lennon did? Local Dr. Todd Huffman is prescribing that we all search for commopn ground to heal what ails us.
Meanwhile, a group of citizens in Eugene have been talking with each other for over a year. While they may not have found common ground, they are at least talking to each other and looking for areas of common interest.
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Looking Ahead
No critical meetings are good meetings. Go fishing.
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Rob Zako, Editor
343-5201
rzako@efn.org
PeaceHealth
Commentary -- RiverBend a perfect hospital site
| By Jan Oliver and Jack Courtemanche | July 7, 2004 |
In a community of divergent views and strong opinions, we may all agree on at least one thing: Building a new hospital is hard work. As both Springfield and Eugene struggle to clear the hurdles that stand between the vision and the reality of two brand new hospitals, The Register-Guard focuses too much on the land use battles and too little on the implications for health care in our community. (more...)
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McKenzie-Willamette/Triad
Letter -- Keep hospital in Springfield
| By Elvis Barnhart and Marilyn Barnhart, Springfield | July 5, 2004 |
Many local citizens, including members of my family, made considerable sacrifices to build McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center as our community hospital. In addition, numerous doctors and surgeons have expended countless funds and efforts to build their practices in close proximity to the present site.
McKenzie-Willamette has an extensive history of service to the city of Springfield and the surrounding area.
We feel that Roy Orr's opinion (Register-Guard, June 17) that the RiverBend location of PeaceHealth would pose an even greater threat to McKenzie-Willamette than the Hilyard Street location is unfounded and doesn't give credit to the loyalty of their clientele. Furthermore, plans by McKenzie-Willamette and Triad to relocate outside of Springfield would remove the services from the center of their "home turf" and place them in PeaceHealth's "home turf." How will they retain the loyalty of this community by deserting us?
Since PeaceHealth has expressed plans to maintain an emergency treatment presence at the Hilyard site, relocating McKenzie-Willamette to the EWEB site would place it between PeaceHealth's facilities.
Does Orr really believe that McKenzie-Willamette/Triad will receive better treatment from the city of Eugene than PeaceHealth did? After all, city officials effectively drove PeaceHealth out of Eugene with restrictions and demands.
Nowhere have we seen that Orr has even considered any of the less costly sites apparently available within a short distance of McKenzie-Willamette's present location.
A parting thought: With all the surgeries I and my extended family have had at McKenzie-Willamette, we feel that we should hold the title to the third floor.
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Bob Welch: Hospital could link downtown to the river
By Bob Welch, Columnist
The Register-Guard | July 11, 2004 |
CORVALLIS -- As an evening breeze ruffled the leaves of trees along the Willamette River, I bit into a chicken sandwich outside the Fox & Firkin restaurant Wednesday night and wondered if Eugene's downtown waterfront would ever get to this pleasant point.
Frankly, optimism doesn't come easy. The Corvallis downtown-to-river connection was decades in the making. And hardly had the ink dried on Eugene's master plan draft for its downtown, which includes a similar link to the Willamette, when the news broke last February:
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, now owned by Texas-based Triad Hospitals Inc., hopes to plop a five-story hospital on the 26-acre Eugene Water & Electric Board riverside site. And the city, after losing PeaceHealth to Springfield, hopes to make it happen. (more...)
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McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and SEIU Fail to Reach Agreement on New Contract
By Rosie Pryor, 744-6164
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center | July 7, 2004 |
Springfield, OR -- McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and Service Employee International Union Local #49 (SEIU) have reached a deadlock in efforts to negotiate a new contract. The current contract expired at midnight June 30, 2004. Both parties have agreed to federal mediation and a meeting is slated for July 20th.
CEO Roy J. Orr called the impasse "very disappointing." Orr said, "The last three years have been very difficult for this hospital, and we are still in a strained financial condition." Orr said he is hopeful a mediator can help get the process back on track. "I believe the majority of McKenzie-Willamette employees want to see this resolved."
Orr said this is the first time in 15 years that McKenzie-Willamette has been unable to reach agreement on the terms of a new contract. He said McKenzie-Willamette may be experiencing unusually difficult negotiations as a result of SEIU's coordinated contract campaigns-characterized as the largest effort in SEIU's history, according to their website (http://www.seiu.org). PeaceHealth does not have a contract with SEIU. (more...)
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Negotiation Breakdown
By KVAL News Staff
KVAL | July 7, 2004 |
Springfield -- Officials with McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center released a statement this afternoon declaring a deadlock in negotiations with Service Employee International Union #49.
The union's contract expired June 30. It impacts about 350 employees in such positions as housekeeping, food service, radiology and lab technicians. Both parties have agreed to federal mediation and have scheduled a meeting in two weeks.
Hospital CEO Roy Orr says this is the first time in fifteen years that McKenzie-Willamette has been unable to reach agreement on the terms of a new contract. (more...)
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Hospital, union reach impasse
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | July 8, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Financially strapped McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and the union representing 350 hospital workers have reached an impasse in their negotiations for a new labor contract.
The contract between the hospital and Service Employees International Union Local 49 expired June 30. A federal mediator will try to get the parties to reach agreement, with the next meeting scheduled for July 20.
In a statement Wednesday, McKenzie-Willamette Chief Executive Officer Roy Orr called the deadlock "very disappointing." (more...)
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Hospital, union reach impasse on contract
| The Springfield News | July 9, 2004 |
For the first time in 15 years, McKenzie-Willamette Hospital has reached an impasse in negotiations with its employees' labor union over their new contract.
As is the case in many other disputes between unions and employers, the dispute centers around health insurance costs. According to a statement from the hospital, costs for health coverage are going up an average of more than 17 percent per year. (more...)
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Health Care, etc.
Doctors rethink hospital loyalties
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard | July 5, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- If you undergo surgery in the emergency room at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center this summer, the slicing may be done by doctors from a Eugene-based surgery group -- a subtle sign of how the hospital wars here are changing the business of medicine.
As McKenzie-Willamette prepares to move to Eugene, and Eugene's Sacred Heart Medical Center looks to move to Springfield, physicians who have enjoyed the luxury and convenience of practicing at one or the other of the hospitals are likely to find themselves working at both. (more...)
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Health clinics open to families this summer
By Randi Bjornstad
The Register-Guard | July 9, 2004 |
Lane County's new Community Health Centers will be open in two locations this summer to offer high-quality health care for children, teens and families at affordable prices.
The services include sports physicals, school-required immunizations, illnesses and injuries.
Patients will be treated whether they have private insurance, Oregon Health Plan coverage or no health coverage at all.
Rates will be on a sliding scale, and payment plans will be offered.
To schedule an appointment at the Churchill High School clinic location, call 687-3233. For the Springfield High School clinic, call 744-4130.
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OHSU, union employees agree on contract
| The Register-Guard | July 5, 2004 |
PORTLAND -- Oregon Health & Science University has reached agreement with more than 4,100 union employees on the final year of an existing three-year contract that will pay higher wages and maintain medical benefits. (more...)
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Editorial -- Serving special interests: Seniors lost out to lobbyists in Medicare drug bill
| The Register-Guard | July 5, 2004 |
The brilliant Lily Tomlin said, "No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up." Only Vice President Dick Cheney could have crafted a more succinct characterization of the outrageous influence drug industry and health maintenance organization lobbyists exerted on the flawed Medicare prescription drug legislation Congress passed last year.
Separate reports by the nonpartisan Common Cause and Public Citizen organizations chronicle how a legion of special interest lobbyists spent a combined $141 million in 2003 to ensure that the new drug benefit would primarily benefit private companies. The record number of pharmaceutical, HMO and managed care industry lobbyists -- almost 1,000 all told -- made sure the language of the new law would expressly prohibit the government from using its bargaining clout to negotiate lower prices and would also ban the reimportation of cheaper drugs from Canada. (more...)
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Malpractice premiums drive out doctors
By Robert Black
The Associated Press | July 11, 2004 |
WHEATLAND, Wyo. -- Jeremy Katzmann has had enough.
One of only three doctors in this southeast Wyoming town of 3,500, Katzmann is on call every other night. His 3-year-old son cries when his pager goes off, and Katzmann has been unable to recruit new partners while malpractice insurance costs skyrocket.
So the 32-year-old Wyoming native has decided to take his wife and child to Florida, where he will work with seven partners. (more...)
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Nearby Developments
Springfield officials talk of quitting metro planning process
By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard | July 6, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- Talk of revolution hangs in the air in Springfield this summer. The plotters are ordinary city officials tired of dealing with what they call the mind-numbing complexities of the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area Plan.
The planning document, first created in 1982 in response to state land use law, lays out broad policies for both cities and Lane County and is officially enacted by all three.
But it also yokes together three very different government agencies, each one with its own style and agenda. Particularly at odds are Eugene, with its propensity for protracted discussion, and Springfield, with its get-it-done attitude.
The would-be revolutionaries of Springfield say they have no complaint with the idea of regional planning. But under the Metro Plan, Springfield and Eugene sometimes remind them of a dog and a cat running a three-legged race. So Springfield is talking out loud about cutting the rope. (more...)
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Editorial -- Breaking up is hard to do: Springfield should stick with Metro Plan
| The Register-Guard | July 8, 2004 |
Some Springfield officials are indulging in a summer daydream: Wouldn't it be great to tell Eugene and Lane County to mind their own business, and break free of the web of land-use planning arrangements that bind all three jurisdictions? Springfield could then plan its own future with the efficiency that is a source of civic pride -- a self-sufficient island of common sense.
Springfield, however, is not an island. It's part of a metropolitan area whose various governments can't ignore one another. Quitting the metro planning process, under which the two cities and the county are governed by a single land-use plan, would be difficult or impossible, but if it succeeded, Springfield would soon find that the benefits of cooperation justify the frustrations that inevitably accompany any enterprise involving partners. (more...)
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Downtown Springfield Could See Tall Building (By Springfield Standards)
| KEZI | July 7, 2004, 5:10 p.m. |
St. Vincent de Paul's thrift stores are a bargain. Even more so --in this case-- if you tear the one down at 5th and Main in Springfield. That's because what's planned for this corner, is an unbeatable deal for the whole city of Springfield.
A new, 5-story building. The tallest in town. (more...)
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New building proposed downtown
By Christopher Stollar
The Springfield News | July 7, 2004 |
Birds will like this building.
With visions of a grassy terrace and garden on the roof, city planners hope the proposed five-story mid-rise building at Fifth and Main streets in Springfield will breathe oxygen into the air -- and new life into downtown. (more...)
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Springfield looks at way to keep criminals in jail
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard | July 7, 2004 |
Frustrated by the revolving door at the county jail, Springfield is considering whether to build its own 100-bed city lockup.
That would mean the city could punish the misdemeanor drunken drivers, shoplifters and vandals who sail through the county jail because the system no longer has the resources to imprison them. (more...)
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City thinks about a new jail
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 9, 2004 |
For years, talk of a new public-safety facility has circulated, but 2004 may mark the year that talk leads to action.
Inadequate space and safety concerns -- combined with a county jail system that can't keep inmates from constantly being "matrixed" out of the system -- has Springfield officials considering whether to build a new public-safety facility that may add a 100-bed city jail and fire department administration facilities.
The Springfield Police Department has operated out of the same site on A Street for 55 years, and Springfield Police Chief Jerry Smith said the makeshift police facility fails to meet the needs of the department. (more...)
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Panel OKs funds for reserve center
By Matt Cooper
The Register-Guard | July 10, 2004 |
SPRINGFIELD -- The military moved closer to building a $26 million reserve center Friday after U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio landed $12.6 million for the project.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the money for the complex that will house three branches of the armed forces. The legislation now goes to the House, where it will be considered next week. (more...)
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Land deal for Santa Clara regional park still in negotiations
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 11, 2004 |
City councilors on Monday evening will take another run at setting the process in motion that one day could lead to a regional park in Santa Clara.
Lane County businessmen Norman and Melvin McDougal want to give the city 77 acres north of Irvington Road in exchange for the right to put houses and businesses on 120 acres of nearby farmland that is currently off-limits to development.
In addition, under the deal, the city would buy or get easements on 130 acres of McDougal-controlled forested land in southeast Eugene, on which to expand the city's trails and parks network. To make the latter happen, the city would buy 100 of the acres from the McDougals in the Laurel Hill Valley for $950,000, and the McDougals would donate a permanent easement on an adjoining 30 acres. (more...)
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Transportation
Neighbors upset over bus lane size
By Amber Fossen
The Springfield News | July 9, 2004 |
Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway's Bus Rapid Transit right-of-way will plump to 86 feet, and several neighbors are very unhappy about it.
Springfield City Councilors voted 3-2, with councilors Dave Ralston and Christine Lundberg opposing, to move forward with the conceptual design elements for the final design process of the parkway project.
Councilors previously approved design elements that included a 76-foot right-of-way in the southern segment of the project from Hayden Bridge Way to the PeaceHealth site to allow for Lane Transit District's BRT lane. (more...)
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I-105 improvements up for discussion
| The Register-Guard | July 9, 2004 |
Improvements to Interstate 105 will take place next spring and summer, and how to accommodate them with the least disruption to area motorists will be discussed at an open house sponsored by the Oregon Department of Transportation on Monday.
ODOT officials will be on hand to talk about the project, which will be the first major work done to the highway since it opened in 1967. More than 60,000 vehicles a day use the freeway, which runs between the Washington-Jefferson Street Bridge on the west to the interchange with Interstate 5.
The project involves reconstruction of both eastbound and westbound lanes, as well as travel lanes connecting I-105 with Delta Highway and Coburg Road.
Engineers have proposed closing off one direction of traffic entirely while rebuilding that side of the freeway -- routing vehicles to other roads -- or making alternate sides of the highway two-way, with one lane of traffic in each direction.
The open house will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at the Eugene School District headquarters at 200 N. Monroe St. in Eugene's Whiteaker neighborhood. Technical presentations will be made at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
For information, call ODOT at 744-8080.
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Elections
Survey of voters hints at mayor write-in try
By Edward Russo
The Register-Guard | July 8, 2004 |
CORRECTION (ran 7/09/04): Eugene resident Tom Santee was contacted for a survey gauging voter interest for a possible mayoral write-in campaign. Santee's first name was incorrect in a Page A1 story Thursday.
Some people can't quite accept the idea of Kitty Piercy as Eugene mayor.
Piercy, a liberal Democrat and former state representative, outpolled the more conservative City Councilor Nancy Nathanson and three lesser-known residents in the May 18 primary to advance as the lone candidate on the ballot for the Nov. 2 general election. Unless someone conducts a successful write-in campaign, Piercy will become Eugene's next mayor in January.
But just such a write-in candidacy may be looming.
Within the past two days, a Portland survey firm has called Eugene voters asking their views on local political issues, including whether they would support a write-in candidate for mayor. Voters were asked to rate local officials, including lame-duck mayor Jim Torrey, Nathanson and former Eugene Mayor Jeff Miller. (more...)
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Slant -- Write-in Mayor?
| Eugene Weekly | July 8, 2004 |
Readers tell us Robert Moore Information in Portland is conducting a telephone poll of Eugene residents. Questions? What is the most important issue facing Eugene? How would you rank issues in terms of importance: quality of schools; city services; affordable housing; economic development; WEP and the environment? How would you rate the following people: Nancy Nathanson, Jeff Miller, Jack Roberts, Bonny Bettman, Jan Clements, Kitty Piercy and Jim Torrey? It asks "Who did you vote for in the May mayoral primary?" And "In the November mayoral election with only Kitty Piercy listed but the names above as possible write-ins, who would you vote for?" The survey asks about the influence of possible mayoral candidate endorsers, such as the Lane County Home Builders Association and Friends of Eugene (which doesn't do endorsements). And the survey asks slanted questions about candidate positions, such as increasing regulation and the cost of doing business; maintaining the UGB and increasing the cost of housing, stopping the WEP, using public funds to support urban development, etc. Who's behind this spendy survey? Somebody with bucks to burn eyeing a write-in campaign in November.
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Mayoral Campaign Surprise
Eugene -- Opponents of Kitty Piercy say a write in campaign in the November election will not divide the community. They counter the mayoral primary winner's criticism that it would be un-productive.
When Piercy celebrated her win over Nancy Nathanson in the Eugene mayoral race it seemed the voters had spoken. It was a primary ,but the November general election is considered a mere formality in a race like this one.
But that may not be the case this time. "I don't know what they are trying to do. i just know it will show what the election showed," says Piercy, referring to a possible write in campaign by those who opposed her and new, more liberal, city councilors taking office next January. (more...)
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Other News
Letter -- Common Ground
| By Todd Huffman, M.D., Eugene | July 8, 2004 |
In America, our bounty is in some ways our curse. In this land of plenty, we are not forced to work together out of necessity or thrift. Our ignorance of each other misleads us into assigning easy categorizations: "liberal" or "conservative," "radical" or "warmonger." We paint those who disagree with us into absurdly extreme corners in our mind, and never allow them to come out and be heard.
Reading letters to the editor, I often wonder whether Americans are increasingly paying lip service to the ideals of democracy. A democracy invites and tolerates the clash of opinions, and understands its obligation to search for common ground. Indeed, a democracy knows its very survival depends upon it.
A combustible mix of events is brewing: political party conventions, the release of the 9/11 Commission and Senate Intelligence Committee reports, a highly-charged theatrical release from a contentious director, the release of a loved and hated ex-president's autobiography, the Olympics in Athens, the growing torture scandal, and the possibility of worsening violence in the summer heat of electricity-insufficient Iraq.
The fire danger here at home is very real. If we allow ourselves to forget our common interests, our common purpose, and our common ideals, our nation could be engulfed by passions not seen since 1968. Finding common ground requires first searching for it, a responsibility that belongs to all of us.
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Slant -- Community Dialogue over Breakfast
| Eugene Weekly | July 8, 2004 |
A promising breakfast conversation has been happening monthly in Eugene for the past year. Brought together by the Metro Partnership and 1000 Friends of Oregon, Jack Roberts and Rob Zako, 16 citizens of often deeply conflicting political perspectives are talking to each other and even reaching consensus about thorny local issues. First product was a letter to the mayor and council asking that the city move forward on lands inventories to develop high-quality land use planning and bring certainty to landowners. Specifically, this means supporting inventories on commercial and industrial lands and completing the long overdue natural resources study. Next discussion? Maybe transportation, including the West Eugene Parkway, or housing trends, including the shortage of low-cost housing, or elitism in Eugene, or some other contentious topic. Participants, who are on their own and not representing any organizations or employers, are: Rob Bennett, Jim Croteau, Rick Duncan, Pat Fagan, David Funk, Gerry Gaydos, Sandy Halonen, Anita Johnson, Steve Korth, Kevin Matthews, Bob O'Brien, Kitty Piercy, Rusty Rexius, Jack Roberts, John VanLandingham, and Rob Zako.
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