Category HEALTH CARE
Salem Hospital shares behind-the-scenes look at emergency care
Doctors and nurses in Salem Hospital’s emergency department shared stories about how Salem’s growing and aging population has changed the landscape of trauma care for the region during a Tuesday presentation to community leaders.
East Salem clinic to open classroom space for support groups, literacy and citizenship classes
With a recent grant, a health clinic in east Salem will start a community classroom to provide space for health exams, support groups and classes. WFMC Health, located on Northeast Lancaster Drive, expects to have the classroom running by the end of the year.
COLUMN: Top mistakes Medicare counselors see
Jim Sellers, former Oregon journalist and state agency employee, writes a regular column to help thousands in Salem deal with the confusing world of Medicare and federal benefits. He's available to answer your questions.
Local health leaders propose focus on housing, drug use, improving care access
People in Marion and Polk counties are struggling to access quality health care and are experiencing more mental health conditions like depression, according to a local health assessment released last week. The assessment was done by a group made up of leaders from agencies like Salem Health, Santiam Hospital and county health departments.
SENTENCED TO THE SIDEWALK: Legislators sharpening focus on reforms to help troubled people
After years of inaction, lawmakers are turning their attention to key flaws in Oregon's civil commitment process. But needed space to treat people with severe mental illnesses still lags behind.
SENTENCED TO THE SIDEWALK: In ‘revolving door’ of Salem’s psychiatric unit, getting better is a matter of luck
Oregon has no functional system to compel psychiatric treatment for unsheltered people dying slowly from neglect. That leaves Salem Hospital as the only outlet for many of Salem’s most vulnerable.
Bridgeway ends plan for recovery home as local treatment providers brace for state funding cuts
Two of Salem’s largest addiction treatment providers will lose at least $1 million in annual state funding for recovery services due to funding changes made by the Oregon Health Authority last week. Bridgeway Community Health will be unable to fund a new men’s stabilization center, which it planned to open early this year.
Oregon public health programs hit with $117 million in surprise federal cuts
An abrupt halt to federal grants worth $12 billion around the country has state and local agencies contemplating layoffs and cuts to programs combatting diseases such as tuberculous, mpox and the flu.
Number of people ending their lives under Death With Dignity Act declines
State data shows deaths under Oregon's assisted suicide law declined in 2024, even as prescriptions increased.