Update on RiverBend, Delta Ridge, etc.
August 20, 2006
Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES)

A man walks along the inside of a circle of chess tables, glancing at each for two or three seconds before making his move. On the outer rim, dozens of amateurs sit pondering their replies until he completes the circuit. The year is 1909, the man is José Raúl Capablanca of Cuba, and the result is a whitewash: 28 wins in as many games. The exhibition was part of a tour in which Capablanca won 168 games in a row. How did he play so well, so quickly? And how far ahead could he calculate under such constraints? "I see only one move ahead," Capablanca is said to have answered, "but it is always the correct one."
-- From "The Expert Mind," by Philip E. Ross, Scientific American, August 2006

Dear CHOICES members and supporters,

It has been a while since we've looked closely at the chessboard of the Musical Hospitals game here in Lane County, but perhaps like a chess master we can quickly scan the pieces (see the stories below) to see where the game is headed...

RIVERBEND: If you go out to the Gateway area, you will see a lot of dirt being moved and several stories of the new RiverBend hospital taking form. PeaceHealth appears on track to open the new hospital in 2008, which is a couple years later than they had originally hoped, for a cost of roughly $350 million -- not counting another $150 million or so for related expenses.

I-5/BELTLINE INTERCHANGE: You will also see a lot of dirt being moved and the supports for a new flyover at the Interstate-5/Beltline interchange taking form. The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) says it will complete the current construction by the fall of 2008, i.e., about the time that PeaceHealth plans to open their doors at RiverBend. In addition to the money PeaceHealth contributed to this project, a lot of politicians have helped to pull together roughly $70 million for the current construction.

HILYARD: But it increasingly appears that PeaceHealth isn't so much moving their existing hospital as they are opening a second hospital. Oh, technically and for the purposes of satisfying state certificate of need requirements, the lawyers might argue that RIverBend will be a hospital and the old hospital at Hilyard will be something less than a hospital. But PeaceHealth is planning to invest $61 million (and perhaps as much as $135 million) in renovating the existing hospital. Moreover, there have been a lot of quiet discussions about which activities will move to RiverBend and which will stay at Hilyard, and we aren't sure if the dust had quite settle yet. Suffice it to say that some would prefer to stay in downtown Eugene where they are now. If you are interested, head out to the Lane County Fair to see a display of PeaceHealth's plans for both campuses.

DELTA RIDGE: Meanwhile, McKenzie-Willamette/Triad and the City of Eugene have agreed to delay a public hearing before the Eugene Planning Commission, originally scheduled for July 18, by two months. If you are interested, head out to the Lane County Fair to see a display of McKenzie-Willamette/Triad's plans for Delta Ridge. But the major snag is the traffic at the...

DELTA HIGHWAY/BELTLINE INTERCHANGE: Beltline Highway is the most congested road in the area -- yes, worse than even the traffic in west Eugene, which for decades has prompted calls for a West Eugene Parkway. But so far Eugene, Lane County, ODOT and now McKenzie-Willamette/Triad can't seem to agree on what kind of improvements will help matters in the Delta Highway/Beltline area -- and where the money will come from to do so. Having been through this process once before with RiverBend, we predict that Triad will eventually work out the transportation issues, get the approvals it needs, and open a hospital at Delta Ridge, concerns of the neighbors notwithstanding. As The Register-Guard editorialized, "you build a hospital on the site you have, not on the site you want." Unless, of course...

GLENWOOD: We originally thought that Delta Ridge was just a ploy to allow McKenzie-Willamette/Triad to get their certificate of need from the state, but that they were really intent on building a new hospital in Glenwood. It is now clear that Delta Ridge is a serious development effort. But if the traffic hurdles prove too high, McKenzie-Willamette/Triad might decide that they want to try to move to Glenwood. In any case, the City of Springfield is serious about redeveloping the riverfront in Glenwood, although they are not getting as much interest as they had hoped. Another possibility is...

STAY PUT OR SELL OUT? Given that PeaceHealth increasingly appears to be opening a second hospital rather than moving an existing hospital and given that McKenzie-Willamette/Triad appears to be making do and even investing in their existing location in Springfield, we wonder how much a third hospital just a couple miles from the new RiverBend hospital is really needed. Of course, this has been McKenzie-Willamette/Triad's fear all along and why they tired so hard, but failed, to prevent the state from giving PeaceHealth permission to have tow hospitals. McKenzie-Willamette/Triad certainly hasn't received the kind of warm welcome and unconditional support from the Eugene community that they had hoped for, actions of the whipped Eugene City Council notwithstanding. So perhaps at some point Triad will grow impatient with the slow pace of development in Oregon and decide to stay put in Springfield or to simply sell out to PeaceHealth. Which brings us to the...

DOCTORS: A critical but quiet player all along in this game has been the doctors. A hospital where few doctors decide to see patients doesn't work. That is why it is significant that the independent Oregon Medical Group, which incidentally is in competition with the PeaceHealth Medical Group, is exploring a partnership with McKenzie-Willamette/Triad. If such a partnership is forged, then it greatly increases the odds that McKenzie-Willamette/Triad will remain in our community for a long time, albeit exactly where remains to be seen.

ROY ORR: The fact that McKenzie-Willamette CEO Roy Orr is stepping down might merely signal that he is looking to do something new. But it might also reflect that Orr got tired of being a figurehead for the "big boys" in Plano, Texas who are really calling the shots. Or perhaps the "big boys" decided that Orr wasn't getting their new hospital built fast enough and decided they wanted someone who could work the land use approval system in Oregon better. Speaking of personalities...

JOHN MUSUMECI/ARLIE: Perhaps we have all forgotten, but it was less than a year ago when John Musumeci of Arlie & Company was 1) offering to buy up the EWEB property that McKenzie-Willamette/Triad was wanting to turn into a hospital and 2) refusing to sell their Crescent Village property (which was originally the PeaceHealth property for a new hospital but which got swapped for the RiverBend property when the Eugene City Council didn't want to see a new hospital so far from downtown). Today, Arlie is marketing their Crescent Village as a mixed-use "urban village." They also say they are still interested in buying the EWEB property should EWEB decide to move. And they are holding on to 1100 acres near Lane Community College, dubbed "College Park," should Eugene or Springfield some day decide to expand to the south. Speaking of large developments in rural areas...

WILDISH/BUFORD PARK: The Wildish family, having bought 1400 acres of land at the confluence of the Middle and Coast Forks of the Willamette River on the cheap and mined out most of the gravel now want to extract a bit more money from this land. They have filed a Measure 37 claim, saying that Lane County is preventing them from building 300 luxury homes (or some such thing). Technically, under the law approved by 61% of Oregon voters, Wildish most likely has a valid claim and must either be paid for the loss in value of their property or else allowed to do what they want. But has Wildish really "lost" money on this property? They bought it on the cheap to mine gravel and then mined and sold that gravel. They have certainly made a handsome profit on their investment. Did they really foresee when they acquired the land in the '50s that they could in addition build hundreds of McMansions? Did they pay a premium for the land to reflect that anticipated future value? Or are they just now wanting to make a few million more dollars on the backs of taxpayers, many of whom didn't realize when they voted for Measure 37 that they were not voting so much to make grandmothers whole as to make greedy developers rich. Speaking of greedy developers...

ARLIE/BUFORD PARK: Hmmm. Arlie & Company has formed a nonprofit foundation and joined forces to work with Friends of Buford Park to buy the Wildish land to be added to the existing Buford Park/Mt. Pisgah. Of course, adding the land to Buford Park makes sense, and we are glad that Arlie with its expertise and resources is helping Friends of Buford Park try to acquire the land. It appears that Arlie is trying to do something good for the community, but we still have this nagging feeling.

DOWNTOWN EUGENE: Meanwhile, Connor and Woolley have dropped plans to redevelop west Broadway; Oregon Research Institute couldn't come up with the money to buy the old Sears building and now the City of Eugene is having trouble finding a new buyer; the City of Eugene itself is looking to build a new city hall and sell the old city hall to a willing buyer, albeit for far more money than voters will likely approve; and perhaps we will see work on a new Whole Foods and a new parking garage starting some time soon.

BUS RAPID TRANSIT: The first segment of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), dubbed EmX, between downtown Eugene and downtown Springfield is set to open this fall. The second segment is planned to go to the new hospital at RiverBend, but that is still several years off, assuming that funding can be secured. A future third segment was planned to go out Coburg Road (past Arlie's Crescent Village) and make a loop with the RiverBend segment. But plans for Coburg Road are on hold, at least for now. Rather, attention is turning to west and northwest Eugene along West 11th Avenue or Highway 99 for a third segment. In any case, whether or not there will be future segments of BRT depends entirely on how successful the first segment is.

WEST EUGENE PARKWAY: The West Eugene Parkway (WEP) is dead (although it has been dead before and then miraculously come back to life). Truth be told, the project was never going to get built and has been on life support for years. While some accuse the majority of the Eugene City Council of maliciously killing an otherwise vital project, others see that the council was wise and compassionate in putting an end to the terminally-flawed project and saving the community years of pain and grief. Now the question is what to do instead. We hope that proponents and opponents of the old WEP will be able to move past old divisions and to look pragmatically at what makes sense for west Eugene.

REGION 2050: But where will the community grow? Eugene or Springfield? downtown, Gateway/Chad Drive/Crescent Village, west Eugene, "Airport Park" or College Park? Eugene/Springfield or Cottage Grove/Creswell/Oakridge/Coburg/Harrisburg/Junction City/Veneta? The Region 2050 planning effort was intended to answer the question of where and how we grow as a community. But now that Springfield, Cottage Grove and Eugene have all dropped out of the effort, it is essentially dead. Nevertheless, our part of Lane County will grow in the coming decades, whether or not we decided collectively or separately where and how that growth should occur. The challenge is that we will need to build roads, transit service, hospitals, schools, parks, sewer and water systems, etc. to support that new growth, and it is hard to know where to plan new facilities and services when it is still unclear where the growth will happen. Of course, some speculators are waiting in the wings, hoping growth will occur on their lands, and that the general public will end up picking up the costs associated with that growth. But now we find our crystal ball into the future becoming too hazy. Speaking of the future...

AGING BABY BOOMERS: The oldest Baby Boomers, which were born in 1946, are now 60 years old now. In a few years they will begin retiring, increasingly suffer from age-related diseases, and begin depending on Medicare to pay for much of their health care. But will Medicare be there for them when they need it? Increasingly it looks like the answer might be "no." The dominant political ideology today is hostile to the idea of government (except, of course, for things like armies fighting wars in distant lands or spies listening in on our private conversations) and is working to privatize many aspects of life. In particular, as recently described by the head of the American Medical Association in a opinion piece in The Register-Guard, as Congress reduces funding for Medicare, doctors must increasingly choose between providing health care to older patients at a financial loss and staying in business. Increasingly, all but the very rich may find that they won't be able to afford health care, as their doctors won't be able to afford to provide it. Which brings us full circle to...

RIVERBEND: Undoubtedly, Riverbend will open its doors in a couple years or so. It will offer state-of-the-art quality health care to the residents of Lane County and surrounding areas. But will the people of Lane County be able to afford such quality health care? Will RiverBend really serve the community for another 100 years, as PeaceHealth hopes? What will health care look like 10 years from now, let alone 100 years from now? It is useful to note that just six years ago in 2000, PeaceHealth was planning to have a "distributed" system of a main hospital and numerous satellite facilities around the community, as it then appeared that more and more health care would be provided on an outpatient basis. Now the trend is to centralize all services in one -- or two -- large facilities.

CONCLUSION: In conclusion, it is pretty certain that the community will have the services of two or even three hospitals (or at least large facilities that resemble hospitals). What is still unclear is whether that will be what we really need and whether we will be able to afford to benefit from those services.

For CHOICES,
Rob Zako
343-5201
rzako@efn.org

PIECES ON THE CHESSBOARD: SOME RECENT NEWS STORIES

Homegrown health care
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, August 19, 2006)
The one good thing that's come of congressional gridlock over the nation's dysfunctional health care system is that state and local leaders have been forced to devise creative solutions on their own. While Congress was busy taking care of its benefactors in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, states such as Massachusetts and Vermont were finding ways to vastly expand health care coverage for their uninsured residents. In addition to those innovative programs, a particularly promising effort has emerged in Lane County that has the ambitious goal of providing health care for 100 percent of the people within the county. That's right -- everyone. (more...)

Medicare cuts leave doctors few options
(Commentary by William Plested and Donald Schroeder, The Register-Guard, August 18, 2006)
As Oregon's popularity increases among retirees, more than half a million patients in Oregon now rely on Medicare to provide vital health care services. But Jan. 1, Medicare patients' access to care will be jeopardized by the first of many steep cuts in Medicare reimbursements to physicians. Without immediate congressional action, Medicare will cut physician payments by 37 percent automatically over the next nine years, while practice costs will increase at least 22 percent. (more...)

LTD considers adding some crosstown routes
(By Jeff Wright, The Register-Guard, August 18, 2006)
Call it EmX Lite. In addition to its EmX bus rapid transit system, the Lane Transit District is exploring the idea of creating several crosstown bus routes that would offer some, but not all, of the amenities of bus rapid transit. The first proposed route: a single line that would carry riders all the way from Santa Clara Square on River Road in northwest Eugene to Lane Community College in southeast Eugene. (more...)

Glenwood development field narrows
(By Jack Moran, The Register-Guard, August 18, 2006)
SPRINGFIELD -- The list of development firms interested in working to remake an underused section of Glenwood along the Willamette River has dwindled to three. Arlie & Co. officials said this week that they don't have enough time to come up with a detailed plan for transforming the industrial area into a mix of housing, offices, shops and restaurants. (more...)

Eugene seeks interest in City Hall
(By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, August 18, 2006)
For possible sale: 80,000-square-foot City Hall. Understated, anti-monumental design. Needs updating. Contact the city of Eugene. Before deciding where to build a new home for city government, Eugene officials want to know if anyone is interested in buying City Hall and converting it for its own purposes. City officials are contacting nonprofit groups, private developers and other governments with potential interest in City Hall, on the block bounded by East Seventh and Eighth avenues and Pearl and High streets. (more...)

Local hospital chief will step down
(By Tim Christie, The Register-Guard, August 17, 2006)
SPRINGFIELD -- Roy Orr is leaving McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center a very different hospital than when he arrived there 14 years ago from Beaumont, Texas. Orr, 53, on Wednesday announced he will step down as the hospital's chief executive officer by the end of the year. He said he's not retiring and will pursue other work, though he doesn't yet know if it will be here or in another market. "I'm not unhappy," he said. "I honestly believe CEOs have a shelf life." (more...)

Radio firm spreading Hispanic foothold
(By Joe Mosley, The Register-Guard, Thursday, August 17, 2006)
Eugene's Churchill Media is expanding the reach of its chain of radio stations as it seeks to claim the Northwest's Hispanic market as its own -- or como sus el propios. ... Churchill is owned by Suzanne Arlie, who with her husband, John Musumeci, operates the Eugene-based real estate development firm Arlie & Co. (more...)

Eugene rejects regional planning effort
(By Randi Bjornstad, The Register-Guard, August 16, 2006)
A seven-year effort to plan cooperatively for growth and development throughout Lane County may be on the skids after the Eugene City Council declined Monday to endorse the Region 2050 strategy. The council's 6-2 no-confidence vote centered on the way the plan divvies up anticipated population growth among the 10 cities in the planning area, the primary reason also given by elected officials from Springfield and Cottage Grove when they defected from the effort in March. Eugene was by far the largest city that signed on to participate in Region 2050, and its council's decision pushes the planning effort, already limping, into limbo. (more...)

Arlie execs offer to help save land near Buford
(By Jack Moran, The Register-Guard, August 8, 2006)
A nonprofit foundation established by executives of the Eugene-based development firm Arlie & Co. wants to help buy and preserve for the public 1,400 acres of privately owned land adjacent to the Howard Buford Recreation Area. The Arlie officials announced Monday that they are working with the Friends of Buford Park and Mount Pisgah to negotiate the purchase of property now owned by the Wildish Land Co. (more...)

This is an expensive six minutes
(Letter by Don Clarke, Eugene, August 7, 2006)
The City/Region article on the soon-to-be-completed Franklin Corridor section of the new EmX rapid transit program (Register-Guard, July 29) gave me pause to contemplate the insanity of it all. We just spent $24 million to build a four-mile rapid transit line between downtown Eugene and downtown Springfield -- our most heavily traveled and congested route - so that we could save six minutes off the travel time. Have we all lost our minds? (more...)

Wildish Lands For Park
(By Tom Adams, KVAL, August 7, 2006)
SPRINGFIELD -- A leading local conservation group is joining forces with a Eugene developer in a most unusual alliance. (more...)

Residents did Delta traffic count
(Letter by Celeste Ulrich, Eugene, August 7, 2006)
It was good to see The Register-Guard's editorial on the fuzzy math being used by Triad to support its contention that the proposed location of its dead end hospital at Delta Ridge would have minimum impact on the traffic (Register-Guard, July 13). (more...)

Regional growth plan takes shape
(By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, August 5, 2006)
Seven years in the making, a plan to guide population growth in much of the southern Willamette Valley in the next 50 years is ready for the spotlight. Called Region 2050, the countywide planning effort attempts to prepare cities and towns for 150,000 additional residents in the not-too-distant future. "This area is changing and growing," said Eugene City Councilor David Kelly, who is on the Region 2050 advisory board. "We either can let it happen and look around in 30 years and wonder how we got to where we are, or we can coordinate our planning as to how we change and grow." Released Friday, the draft Southern Willamette Valley Regional Growth Management Strategy seeks to guide growth while minimizing effects on the environment. (more...)

Proposed hospital's height cut
(By Matt Cooper, The Register-Guard, August 5, 2006)
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center officials announced Friday that they have cut the height of their proposed seven-story, 152-bed, $234 million medical center almost in half. (more...)

Hospital 'profits' benefit all patients
(Commentary by Vern Katz and David DeHaas, The Register-Guard, August 3, 2006)
British politician Benjamin Disraeli noted that "The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend." As physicians, we see first-hand how the high quality of care makes a difference in people's lives. What many people may not understand is that the quality of the health care we enjoy in our community is not a coincidence - it is a function of ongoing effort. High quality health care takes will, money, the availability of talented caregivers (both nurses and physicians) and institutions whose mission is the health of the community. (more...)

Fulfill Buford Park vision
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, August 2, 2006)
The long-standing dream of acquiring the Wildish Land Co.'s 1,400 acres along the Middle Fork of the Willamette River and making it a part of the adjoining Howard Buford Recreation Area has gained the propellant it needs: a sense of urgency. Wildish filed a Measure 37 claim in June as a step toward building 300 homes on part of the property. The company is willing to consider selling the land to the public, but unless a realistic proposal comes forward soon, a once-in-a-generation opportunity will be lost. (more...)

City gives more time for Sears site ideas
(By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, August 2, 2006)
This particular downtown Eugene property can't seem to shake broken deadlines. City Manager Dennis Taylor last week agreed to extend the deadline a month for developers to submit proposals for a downtown building on the former Sears property, at West 10th Avenue and Charnelton Street, near the Public Library. The new deadline is Sept. 15. ... On Tuesday, two of the groups -- Arlie & Co. and Jennings Pitts Development, both of Eugene -- said they will not submit a plan for the property. (more...)

LTD's EmX stations almost done; buses awaited
(By Jeff Wright, The Register-Guard, July 29, 2006)
Construction of eight new stations along Lane Transit District's EmX bus rapid transit line is now substantially completed, several weeks ahead of schedule. Now all LTD needs is some new EmX buses. (more...)

Beyond the parkway: Let's look for new ideas
(Commentary by Kitty Piercy, The Register-Guard, July 25, 2006)
I am writing today about the apparent "no build" conclusion to the West Eugene Parkway saga. This is a turning point in Eugene, one that I undertook because of my deep commitment to the well-being of our community. When I began seeking a better transportation solution, I didn't envision that six months would take us from "no alternative" to a clean slate. (more...)

Avoid fuzzy math
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, July 25, 2006)
The biggest concern associated with building a new hospital near the Belt Line Road/Delta Highway interchange in north Eugene is the impact the project will have on what is already the nastiest traffic snarl in Eugene-Springfield. (more...)

Hospital's bills adding up: PeaceHealth accounts for costs of RiverBend and related projects
(By Tim Christie, The Register-Guard, July 24, 2006)
So how much does it really cost to build a state-of-the-art, regional medical center campus on the banks of the McKenzie River? Since that sunny September day in 2001 when PeaceHealth executives unveiled plans to build a replacement hospital in north Springfield, they've said the RiverBend project would cost $350 million. Even when the project was delayed for years by zoning issues and litigation, they stuck to that $350 million figure. (more...)

Traffic impact varies along the way
(By Matt Cooper, The Register-Guard, July 23, 2006)
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center officials have said their proposed hospital in north Eugene would add only 4 percent to traffic in the area. But their own traffic expert doesn't like them saying that. (more...)

A beneficial partnership
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, July 23, 2006)
People trying to parse the significance of Oregon Medical Group's announcement Thursday that it is exploring a partnership with Triad Hospitals Inc. could learn a lot from this comment by Rosie Pryor: "For all intents and purposes our primary customers are physicians." (more...)

Medical group, hospital to pursue partnership
(By Tim Christie, The Register-Guard, July 21, 2006)
The second largest medical practice in the metro area has decided to explore a partnership with the second largest hospital. The doctor-shareholders of Oregon Medical Group voted unanimously Thursday to pursue a partnership with Triad Hospitals Inc., the Texas-based parent of McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, said Dr. Mark Litchman, OMG's board president. OMG needs to support both hospitals, he said, and wants to see two viable, competing hospitals for the benefit of doctors and patients. (more...)

Mayor, Councilor Kelly effectively lay to rest any future for parkway
(By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, July 14, 2006)
Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green called the meeting the "High Noon melodrama with Gary Cooper."
When the smoke cleared Thursday, the West Eugene Parkway lay in a coffin awaiting burial by the state transportation department. (more...)

State ready to park the parkway
(By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, July 7, 2006)
The state Department of Transportation is ready to kill the West Eugene Parkway, a project that it has worked on for 25 years. (more...)

New hospital continues 70-year commitment
(Commentary by Mel Pyne, The Register-Guard, July 7, 2006)
On July 7, 1936, four nuns arrived by train from Bellingham, Wash., at the request of local physicians who hoped the sisters could save Eugene's struggling Pacific Christian Hospital. Little did these dedicated women know that they were beginning a new chapter in health care in Lane County - one that would endure for 70 years. As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the hospital we know today as Sacred Heart Medical Center, we are recognizing another milestone as well, for it was on July 5 of last year that the first construction permits for the new Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend were issued. After an intense four-year approval process, construction finally was under way! (more...)

Do we need another hospital?
(Letter by Brian Bell, Eugene, July 6, 2006)
Within the next several weeks, Triad's mercurial voyage throughout Lane County to desperately find a "shovel-ready" site for a new hospital will finally be scrutinized by state and local officials. ... So, one has to wonder if Triad is serious about serving the growing health care needs of our area. Where is the data that demonstrates that we as a community need a new hospital, whether that is on their current Springfield campus or anywhere else in our region? (more...)

Speakers make opinions known on hospital site
(By Matt Cooper, The Register-Guard, July 6, 2006)
Supporters said Wednesday that the McKenzie-Willamette hospital planned in north Eugene is critical for preserving health care choices, while opponents said the site is too hard to reach and unacceptable to neighbors. (more...)

Coburg corridor takes back seat in EmX planning
(By Jeff Wright, The Register-Guard, June 17, 2006)
Four years ago, the Eugene City Council decided that Coburg Road was the next wave of the future for Lane Transit District's ambitious EmX bus rapid transit system. Today, however, a consensus appears to be building that the city's burgeoning west and northwest regions -- along busy West 11th Avenue, Barger Drive and Highway 99 -- are the more sensible places to extend a third EmX corridor. (more...)

Glenwood riverfront prime for redevelopment, city says
(By Jack Moran, The Register-Guard, June 16, 2006)
SPRINGFIELD -- City officials view Glenwood's riverfront as a diamond in the rough -- a neglected neighborhood with the potential to become a polished part of the metro area. Now, they're actively recruiting private interests to help them realize that vision. (more...)

Turn City Hall into arts center
(Commentary by Carolyn Kranzler, The Register-Guard, June 12, 2006)
The Eugene City Hall building is ripe for transition to another purpose. It has outlived its usefulness as a city hall, police headquarters and fire station. For many reasons it is no longer appropriate, and we have learned that renovating and enlarging the current structure to continue these uses would be prohibitive in cost. The entire City Hall block should be renovated for use as a regional visual arts center. Razing the building would be a terrible waste of resources. For a community striving to be "sustainable," this consideration is stunning. I can't imagine the cost of demolition of this whole block, when the Sears building demolition cost $100,000. (more...)

Save some gasoline; try riding the bus instead
(Commentary by Mark Pangborn, The Register-Guard, June 6, 2006)
All of us are affected by the high price of gasoline. After housing, transportation is the second biggest cost for American families, outpacing both food and health care costs. Since January 2003, gas prices have increased by 100 percent. Everyone has an opinion about what should be done, but no one has been able to provide relief. Until now. On Thursday, Lane Transit District is calling on residents to fight high gas prices by using public transportation. Labeled National Dump the Pump Day, LTD will join other public transportation systems throughout the country to show that using public transit is the quickest way to beat the high cost of gas. (more...)

Belt Line interchange project officially begins
(By Sherri Buri McDonald, The Register-Guard, May 16, 2006)
With Monday morning traffic on Interstate 5 roaring in the background, state officials announced a $72.5 million upgrade of the interchange at I-5 and Belt Line Road. (more...)

Bob Welch: Downtown: Another shot, another miss
(Column by Bob Welch, The Register-Guard, May 2, 2006)
Watching downtown Eugene unfold over the decades is like watching hockey: lots of skating back and forth, an occasional gloves-off brawl and then, boom, someone misses a shot. Word that the $165 million Connor-Woolley proposal clanked off the boards last week surprised few who have been watching this game since the days of the seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time pedestrian mall in 1969. Who remember the Pankow proposal of the late '80s for a 13-story office building at Eighth and Willamette that would have included a new city library on the bottom floors. Who look at 12th and Willamette, where some insiders say Triad and the city were close to sealing a deal for a new hospital that instead may wind up being force-fed to Delta Ridge, an area that neither wants it nor needs it. Or who look at John Musumeci's $29 million offer on the Eugene Water & Electric Board property, with plans for a mixed-use, tie-downtown-to-the-river plan that was downright impressive. (more...)

The case for Delta Ridge: McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center has found a site that meets the needs of both the hospital and the community
(By Roy Orr, For The Register-Guard, April 30, 2006)
McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center has submitted applications to the city of Eugene for land-use approvals to build a new hospital at Delta Ridge. In the coming months, there will be work sessions and public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. Why Delta Ridge? Because Eugene needs a hospital, and McKenzie-Willamette needs to relocate and expand. (more...)

Proposed hospital gets vote of dissent
(By Matt Cooper, The Register-Guard, April 28, 2006)
Citizens in northeast Eugene voted overwhelmingly Thursday night against plans to build a hospital there, providing the first widespread statement of opposition to a project that is just beginning city review. (more...)

Triad traffic study insufficient
(Letter by Lloyd Zimmer, Eugene, April 27, 2006)
So Triad releases a traffic study by a company it hired and claims that the Delta Highway-Belt Line Road area will be impacted by only 4 percent. Who are Triad officials kidding? ... Wake up, Eugene! What residential area will next be invaded by a corporation with an outrageous project and a slick traffic study?

Highway upgrades proposed for new hospital
(By Matt Cooper, The Register-Guard, April 19, 2006)
Officials from McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center said Tuesday that their plan for a new hospital in north Eugene won't overwhelm an already-strapped highway system, and they pledged $3.5 million toward a list of fixes. The hospital released its much-awaited traffic analysis that shows the planned medical center and medical office building north of the Belt Line/Delta Highway interchange would boost trips in the area by only 4 percent through 2025, said Roy Orr, McKenzie-Willamette's chief executive officer. (more...)

Former Sears parcel headed to market
(By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, April 13, 2006)
To many Eugene residents, the former Sears property in downtown is a water-filled eyesore. But it doesn't look that way to real estate developer Greg Pitts. ... The quarter-block parcel, across the street from the main public library, had been promised by the city to the Eugene-based Oregon Research Institute. After three years, however, ORI has been unable to raise the money to build an office building on the site. Last month, ORI pulled the plug on the project, putting the city's redevelopment hopes for the property back to square one. ... Now, the city is getting ready to ask developers to submit other ideas for the property. (more...)

Technology To The Rescue: Hospitals invest in digitizing medical records to cut deadly errors
(By Tim Christie, The Register-Guard, April 9, 2006)
In the not-too-distant past, when one of Dr. Jay Chappell's hospitalized heart patients had a problem in the middle of the night, a nurse would fax him a paper printout of the patient's heart rhythms. ... Now, if he gets a call at home from a nurse at 2 a.m., Chappell logs onto the the hospital's encrypted Web site from his home computer, finds his patient's electronic medical record and looks at a clean, clear image of the rhythm strip. The Eugene cardiologist can quickly check the patient's entire medical chart and cardiac history, which helps him figure out what to do with the new symptom, he said. ... Both local hospitals are making major investments in technology so that doctors and nurses have accurate, timely and comprehensive patient information on demand. McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center's corporate parent, Triad Hospitals Inc. of Plano, Texas, is launching a 10-year, $1.3 billion information technology project and has selected the Springfield hospital as one of three pilot sites for the project. PeaceHealth, the parent corporation of Sacred Heart Medical Center, based in Bellevue, Wash., has been incorporating technology to improve patient care for years, officials said. And when it opens RiverBend hospital in 2008, it will have no storage space for paper or film records -- all such information will be stored electronically. (more...)

Bumpy road ahead: Parkway consultants will need the public's help
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, April 7, 2006)
These guys had better be good. Two experts in conflict resolution are coming to town to find out whether a consensus can be reached on the West Eugene Parkway. Such a consensus has eluded the community for more than 20 years. If a compromise is discovered hiding someplace people haven't already looked, the consultants will deserve a medal. (more...)

UO gains physician education program
(By Greg Bolt, The Register-Guard, March 30, 2006)
More than 30 years after the University of Oregon saw its medical school spun off as an independent institution, the UO is coming full circle with the return of a physician education program in Eugene.
Oregon Health & Science University, once part of the UO, plans to establish a satellite program that will have medical students spend three of their four years in Lane County. The time will be split between advanced courses at the UO and clinical experience at PeaceHealth's area hospitals. (more...)

Hospital on pace for '08: PeaceHealth's RiverBend job site is abuzz with almost 300 workers and more to come
(By Jack Moran, The Register-Guard, March 29, 2006)
SPRINGFIELD -- Things are getting a little crowded at PeaceHealth's bustling RiverBend hospital job site. With construction of the 859,000-square-foot regional medical center in full swing, the project's on-site work force totals nearly 300. More will arrive next month, and by the time activity reaches its peak in late 2007, as many as 500 workers will be performing various tasks at the Gateway area property. (more...)

A system, not a link: EmX buses must prove themselves
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, March 22, 2006)
The Lane Transit District will inaugurate its EmX high-speed bus service late this year, with service between downtown Eugene and downtown Springfield. Ridership on the corridor is expected to increase, but the bus rapid transit concept will still need to prove itself to passengers, taxpayers and businesses along the route. For that, LTD will need more than a single link -- which is why it's good news that the second leg of the EmX system may be built up to a year earlier than planned. (more...)

Crescent Village looms on the horizon, says Arlie & Co.
(By Randi Bjornstad, The Register-Guard, March 21, 2006)
Crescent Village looks a bit like a movie set now, with its open spaces punctuated by turn-of-the-last-century street lamps and gently meandering streets. But Sadie Dressekie, marketing director at Arlie & Co., says plans are moving ahead to turn the 40-acre plot into a bustling, real-life housing, office and retail complex. (more...)

A hospital in hand ...
... for Eugene, is worth two in Springfield
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, March 12, 2006)
With apologies to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, you build a hospital on the site you have, not on the site you want. After three years of frustrating false starts and dead ends, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center finally has its hands on a piece of property: 42 acres on the back nine holes of RiverRidge Golf Course. Christened Delta Ridge by McKenzie-Willamette officials, it's an undeniably lovely setting that's encumbered by a long list of "buts." (more...)

Bob Welch: Triad & Delta destined for disaster
(Column by Bob Welch, The Register-Guard, February 19, 2006)
I imagine myself, in the near future, at the marriage between Triad and the newly dubbed Delta Ridge. On one side of the aisle, the McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center folks are all awash in Carly Simon smiles. On the other, the Eugene city councilors all look like the mother who desperately wants to see her daughter married -- the biological clock is ticking -- but keeps wondering: Is this really the best she can do? They smile nervously. Clutch tissues. Drift back to thoughts of the downtown that got away. "If anyone has good reason why these two should not wed," the minister intones, "speak now or forever hold your peace." Uh, not to spoil the festivities, I say while standing, but let's get real, folks. This isn't a marriage made in heaven. It's a marriage made in desperation. (more...)

Bettman pushed UO site as hospital backup
(By Joe Harwood, The Register-Guard, January 10, 2006)
A last-minute attempt to will into existence a suitable downtown Eugene location for a hospital touched off a fast-moving rumor last week that had McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center moving to the University of Oregon's Riverfront Research Park. (more...)

Thinking about I-5
(Editorial, The Register-Guard, November 29, 2005)
Looking at the sketches of how a full interchange between Interstate 5 and Franklin Boulevard might be configured, it becomes clear why a cloverleaf wasn't included when the freeway was built. The Willamette River, the railroad tracks, Judkins Point and the existing Glenwood interchange all create engineering and environmental challenges. Still, now is the time to think about whether those challenges can be surmounted, and whether surmounting them would be worthwhile. (more...)

Arlie proposes one more hospital site
(By Joe Harwood, The Register-Guard, November 15, 2005)
Arlie & Co. sought to keep its hand in the hospital-siting game Monday with an open letter to Triad Hospitals Inc. offering property south of Lane Community College for a new McKenzie-Willamette hospital. In a full-page advertisement in Monday's Register-Guard, the Eugene-based real estate development company listed what it described as the many benefits of putting the facility on a small portion of the 1,200 acres Arlie owns behind the college. (more...)

Bus rapid transit is a bold step into the future
(Commentary by Mike Eyster, The Register-Guard, October 9, 2005)
Imagine the uproar that must have ensued when planners first proposed construction of interstate highways. Such a radical notion was surely criticized by certain people who were alarmed at the economic and aesthetic costs of such a monumental undertaking. And yet today, it's hard to imagine life without Interstate 5, a vital artery for the West's economy and mobility. While differing in scale, a similarly farsighted project launched by the Lane Transit District is destined to become the centerpiece of Lane County's transportation system of the future. Yet EmX, LTD's bus rapid transit system, has become the target of some dissent. (more...)

Whither McKenzie-Willamette?
(By Joe Harwood, The Register-Guard, September 19, 2005)
More than 30 months after announcing plans to build a new hospital in Eugene, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center's Texas-based majority owner is no closer to finding a suitable location for the $225 million facility than when it started the search. But the plodding pace Triad Hospitals Inc. set out with back in early 2003 to buy 20 or so acres on which to site the hospital has broken into an urgent dash in the past month. (more...)

Hospital eyes land other than EWEB's
(By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, September 10, 2005)
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy is worried that the city's chance to attract a new hospital south of the Willamette River is slipping away. McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center executives appear to have shifted their search for a new hospital site away from the Eugene Water & Electric Board property along the Willamette River to other sites in Eugene and Springfield, Piercy said Friday. Those sites include property in north Eugene and in the Glenwood area of Springfield, she said. Also, there's the possibility that McKenzie-Willamette simply would expand its existing hospital in central Springfield, she said. (more...)

EmX, moving right along: Few may know about it, but the rapid bus system is on the way
(By Matt Cooper, The Register-Guard, August 29, 2005)
The new lane and traffic signals at East 11th Avenue and Mill Street in Eugene are evidence of the $23 million high-speed bus line that is on the way -- and all but unknown by many who visit Eric Hanneman's neighboring tropical-fish business. "Mainly, they have no idea," Hanneman said. "I'm not sure the specialness of the system is apparent yet, even to me." (more...)

Hospital regulators say no to a delay
(By Joe Harwood, The Register-Guard, August 19, 2005)
State hospital regulators gave PeaceHealth a helpful boost this week in the hospital-bed race with rival McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. Officials with the state Department of Human Services denied an effort by McKenzie-Willamette that could have delayed the processing of PeaceHealth's application to remodel Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene to create a 100-bed specialty hospital with a 24-hour emergency department when PeaceHealth opens its RiverBend regional hospital in Springfield in 2008. PeaceHealth has already begun contruction of RiverBend and wants to move ahead with the Sacred Heart makeover. (more...)

Arlie site won't fit a hospital
(Letter by Scott M. Diehl, Chief Operating Officer, Arlie & Company, Eugene, August 15, 2005)
Does reporter Edward Russo believe in fact checking? This is the second time in three months I have been forced to correct a story written by Russo. In his August 9, 2005 article about Triad Hospital's search for a site, Russo states that Arlie & Company has approached Triad offering the Crescent Village site as a possible hospital site. This is absolutely untrue and is nothing more than hearsay. (more...)

Arlie tries for EWEB site again: Eugene land speculation firm wants the site hospital's eyeing
(By Amber Fossen, The Springfield News, June 8, 2005)
Arlie & Company has brought its ball back to the game, renewing its bid for Eugene Water & Electric Board's riverfront property in downtown Eugene. The Eugene-based property investment firm announced its $29 million offer for the 27-acre site, at 500 Fourth Ave., at a press conference Monday morning. (more...)