Oregon Health Authority Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Further Proof That 2020 Stinks: More People Are Dying During The Pandemic, Not Just From COVID

By Tom Banse November 25, 2020

Graph showing excess deaths during the pandemic for Oregon and Washington

As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, it's now increasingly apparent that 2020 will be remembered for an unusually high death toll -- not just from COVID-19. In the medical field, deaths above what you would normally expect are called "excess deaths."Read More

Those Experiencing Mental Health Crisis Find Themselves Stuck In ER, With Nowhere Else To Go

By Tom Banse April 7, 2019

People in mental health crisis can be lodged for days on a gurney in a hallway, like these at Olympia's St. Peter Hospital emergency room, because there's nowhere else to go. TOM BANSE / N3

Some psychiatric patients are spending not just hours in the emergency room, but days or a week. They're living there in the ER because there is nowhere else to send them. Northwest policymakers are now making it a priority to create more treatment capacity for people in mental health and addiction crises.Read More

With Federal Children’s Health Coverage Uncertain, Washington And Oregon Consider Options

By Austin Jenkins November 21, 2017

Listen Washington and Oregon are making contingency plans in case Congress doesn’t reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is for low-income families that earn too much to qualify for […]Read More