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MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm Michael Dunne. It was a shock when peace help pulled up stakes and left the university district hospital. Since that time, the large, old building has sat mostly vacant and silent in downtown Eugene. Well, it looks like life and importantly, activity will now start to buzz again on the campus today on the show. You'll hear how Bushnell University is purchasing parts of the building so it can expand its nursing program and other health care related fields of study. And in a nation and state that's facing a huge deficit in trained nurses, this move is both good news for Eugene and also the larger community. Then, in the second part of the show, we talk with the AARP Oregon director about another health care challenge, the challenge of providing care for a family member and the often-hidden costs of such activity. Dr. Corynn Gilbert, Director of Development for Bushnell University. Thanks so much for coming in and talking to us.
CORYNN M. GILBERT: Oh, it's a delight. Thanks for having me.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Such exciting news. You made the announcement that you've taken ownership over two properties that are part of what most people know as the former Peace health university district location. Tell us about the properties.
CORYNN M. GILBERT: It's really exciting. Michael, the two buildings are the two largest buildings along West 11th. Okay. They are sort of commonly known as the BHU, the behavioral health unit, which is the larger facility, 88,000 square feet. That's 770 East 11th. And then along that same stretch is 722 East 11th, which is commonly known as the Center for Medical Education and Research, the CEMR building. Those are two properties that were accessory buildings to the main hospital that in the BHU has been used for all the behavioral health functions of the university district hospital, and the CEMR building was really used for research, for labs under the auspices of peace health.
MICHAEL DUNNE: So, what are Bushnell University's plans for these, these, these properties.
CORYNN M. GILBERT: So, the CEMR building, the 722 East 11th building. It has actually been the home of the School of Nursing for the last several years. Prior to the university district hospital closing, we were able to move into the second floor under an arrangement with peace health. They gave us a lease for $1 a year, knowing how important it was that we trained up and got our nursing program launched. So, we actually are in that building already, but now we have the entirety of that building, okay? And so, between the two buildings, what this does for Bushnell is it gives us the opportunity to really imagine the future of the College of Health Professions, and that is a big question with really exciting implications for our region.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Talk about that. I mean, what kind of, as much detail as you can go into in terms of, you know, what does that expansion look like, and talk about the students you're going to serve, and just the overall sort of, you know, strategy of the university with regard to health professions.
CORYNN M. GILBERT: Absolutely, you know, there's a real lack of health care education in this six-county region specifically, but really, it's Portland that is the hub for healthcare education, and that's a long way away. We want to begin growing our own healthcare professionals at a much greater level in this region. We know that within the physical healthcare space and the behavioral healthcare space, if we can train our own providers, they're much more likely to stay and be embedded in our community as future caregivers. So honestly, this is sort of a once in a century acquisition for us to be able to prepare them for the future, three or five years, 10 years, 50 years down the road. So, the expansion of the nursing school, which we've already begun, that now has room to grow our footprint now is much bigger in the nursing space. Specifically, we also believe it gives us bandwidth and space to expand our behavioral health programs, which are already hugely successful after almost 20 years of behavioral health programs at Bushnell training licensed professional counselors. But that's just looking at expanding what we're currently doing. This new space will allow us to dream and work with industry and the accrediting bodies to identify the gaps in healthcare education in our state. So, as we look to physical health, for example, we'll be looking at expanding into mid-level provider programs, people who can provide primary care, not MDs, but people who can, can be working directly with patients. It's a huge gap in our healthcare ecosystem. We're also looking in areas of public health, because we understand that that's a significant need. As we look at the community. On the behavioral health side, we're hearing lots of concern about the lack of social skills. Workers. We are currently training therapists, but social work is a different and adjacent important area of behavioral health, so we're looking at social work in that space. And so, these are programs that have to be built methodically, strategically, but Bushnell, luckily, has the ability to pivot pretty quickly and work in tandem with the educational kind of oversight agencies that help us drive plan and execute these programs.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Talk about with whatever details you can provide in terms of you know, how many students you might be able to accommodate, any idea of when you'll be open for business, what kind of, you know, I don't know, how much sort of remodeling, or kind of, you know, getting it ready for your ultimate use. What do the plans look like?
CORYNN M. GILBERT: Those are all really good questions. We really believe that quite a bit of expansion can just happen between now and next. Between now and next fall. In terms of our current spaces that we're using, the CEMR building in 722, we get to expand immediately to the third floor and to the first floor, and that's really exciting. We believe that that will allow for enrollment growth even for next fall's current nursing programs, if we can also hire the faculty and build those spaces out so some remodeling, repurposing and additional equipment, but we have lots of really faithful supporters and people who are stepping alongside and seeing this vision with us. In terms of the larger building at the behavioral health unit, we have immediate access to the third and fourth floors, quite a bit of square footage just among those two floors, the first and second floors will be occupied by the Behavioral Health Unit at PeaceHealth until they build their new facility at Timber springs out at Riverbend. So, we want to be really good landlords and neighbors with our friends at PeaceHealth so that they can continue operations seamlessly. And then when it's time for them to move that we will, we will take over the entirety of the behavioral health unit facility.
MICHAEL DUNNE: There are still some other vacancies at the overall campus. Do you anticipate any conflicts with, move in with, with sort of, the kind of, the, I don't know, shuttered, part of PeaceHealth.
CORYNN M. GILBERT: So far, that doesn't seem to be getting in the way of our plans. We have access to the alley that is part of our property, and we feel pretty confident that we can move forward with our operations. Thankfully, those two buildings are contiguous to our current campus, so it's really easy for us to access that. And let me tell you, the campus is exciting. We've been giving some tours to our employees, and everyone's excited about what this can mean for the university.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I have talked to many people who've talked about the sort of the crisis in the shortage of nursing students and just the profession at large. And you mentioned behavioral health. I mean, this is a big deal in terms of being a part of that solution, isn't it?
CORYNN M. GILBERT: Honestly, it aligns so deeply with Bushnell's mission of wisdom, faith and service, we take that very seriously, and so as we proceed, we are looking to be the solution for our region, and believe that we have both the right staff, the faculty, the leadership to make this happen, and so and the community is really, really asking us to step in here. And so, it's kind of an easy yes, and this now provides us the space to make that yes even easier. We know, for example, that this region is even defined by the state of Oregon, by the Oregon Health Authority as a health professions shortage area for both primary care and behavioral health, which are the two places that we feel like it's most important for us to kind of attack the problem front on the front lines. We've been able to do that really successfully already in the School of Nursing Bushnell. I don't know if you knew, but was recently listed as the number one nursing program in the state of Oregon for passing rates on the nursing license exam. That's a big win. We have a 100% first time passing rate for our first approximately 140 graduates over the first six graduating cohorts. That's huge, because we can turn those nurses out pretty quickly into the community, and we know that they are competent, caring and ready to serve.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I know there are certain details you can't share, but I am wondering, you know, looking out sort of maybe in the near and even longer-term future, might there be other expansion plans for Bushnell, especially with regard to healthcare professions and whatnot?
CORYNN M. GILBERT: Well, honestly, I think we have 125,000 square feet with the acquisition of these two buildings. In fact, we just did the math, and over the last basically, the last decade, Bushnell's usable footprint has increased by 151%. So, we've been busy over the last decade. I. Um, we believe that these two spaces will provide what we need for now. But the beauty of that is that the spaces really give us endless, in some ways, some endless opportunities to dream into those healthcare spaces. So, what we're thinking about the programs we're considering rolling out now that's just the beginning we get to. Then look at a strategic plan for them, the next academic programs and the next needs, and figure out how we can train our students well to serve doctors.
MICHAEL DUNNE: My last question for you is this sort of in addition to the space, the physical space to be able to teach these students, obviously, you know, online training and online courses are so important, and obviously almost every campus now is can almost be seen as a regional campus because of that, I just wanted to kind of ask about that that does this help you also reach remote students as well.
CORYNN M. GILBERT: That's a really great question, because a lot of programs do have a hybrid component. Now, healthcare and behavioral health is highly, highly face to face, sure, as you can imagine, a lot of nursing education, primary care education that requires hands on nursing skills, labs and training mannequins and face to face counseling with students. We actually operate an active counseling center on campus that serves both our students and the community about 5050, well that becomes a learning lab for our masters in counseling students to practice their counseling skills and to prepare for post-graduation service and practice. But the interesting piece about technology is that now it will allow us to not just help online students, but actually serve more rural communities around us. For example, we just launched an all-online Master of Education degree, which will allow people to get their teaching credentials from anywhere in the state of Oregon. That's a game changer for someone who might be currently teaching or thinking about going into education, but they live in a small community, so we're trying to think creatively about how to leverage technology, while still retaining our commitment to really high touch, high engaged student to faculty relationships and student to student learning opportunities.
MICHAEL DUNNE: She's Dr,. Corynn Gilbert, the director of development for Bushnell University. Really appreciate you coming in and talking about this, this exciting expansion.
CORYNN M. GILBERT: Oh, thank you.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Now let's talk with AARP state director and learn about the challenges of caregiving for family members in Oregon. Bandana Shrestha, the Oregon State Director for AARP, thank you so much for coming on and talking with us.
BANDANA SHRESTHA: Thank you for having me.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Could you give us an overall picture in the state of Oregon, basically on the state of caregivers. You know, what are maybe some of the positives from the caregivers in our state, but then also, what are some of the challenges that they face?
BANDANA SHRESTHA: Thank you so much. Yes, you know what is so interesting about caregiving is sometimes it seems like we do this thing with our families and friends, you know, all by ourselves. So often people might feel like they're doing it alone, but the fact is that there are 790,000 family caregivers here in Oregon alone, and that's, you know, almost a quarter of our adult population and people are doing all sorts of stuff to help their friends’ families. You know, whether it's a spouse or a partner or a grandparent, they're doing all sorts of stuff, from driving people to doctors’ offices or cooking and cleaning and all those things that keep people in their homes, keep them independent and really have quality of life. And there are so many joys, obviously, that human connection, that ability to really give back to your own family and friends and have those strong bonds. But there are real challenges as well. And this report that we recently had really shows that.
MICHAEL DUNNE: Looking at some of the points from the report that you have, you know, I mean, for example, you know, you have a lot of people who are caring for a loved one, a family member, but they're having to pay money out of their own pocket to be able to help with that, to kind of talk about that, you know, economic hardship that that befalls caregivers often.
BANDANA SHRESTHA: Yes, the economic hardship is quite strong, I would say, I guess, immense. 80% of family caregivers are paying out of pocket to meet their loved ones needs, and on average, people are spending about $7,200 a year. And what we have learned from this new survey is that 43% of family caregivers are experiencing financial setbacks. That might mean that they have debt. It might mean they're draining their savings. Things and just struggling to afford basic things.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm wondering in your survey, was there a compare and contrast with other states? Is there a way to contextualize how good or bad the caregiver situation is in Oregon?
BANDANA SHRESTHA: Well, I don't have that information right in front of me. We do know is that the caregiver experience is probably more alike than not across the country as a just if you look at it, what we know right here in Oregon is that, you know, we can say that family caregivers at the backbone of our long term care system across the country, most of the care that's provided to people to be able to remain independent as they grow older are provided by family caregivers, and these are people who are not compensated, as a general rule, to be able to care for their loved ones. And here in Oregon, that value for the unpaid care value goes up to almost $9 billion and I don't have the number for across the country, but, you know, you can just imagine that larger states have larger numbers. And overall, the value of family caregiving, you know, accounts for a lot in terms of the country.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I know your organization is so clued into an aging population, I am wondering, you know, does it sort of go back and forth? Obviously, the stereotype might be that that that younger adults would be taking care of older adults, but, but I'm wondering too in your surveys and stuff, are there a lot of situations where perhaps older, older Oregonians have to care for, you know, young children and whatnot because of family situations that maybe aren't perfectly ideal.
BANDANA SHRESTHA: Yes, that's a really good point. We do think it's, you know, just younger family members caring for older persons. And from the study, what we know is that the average caregiver is 53 years old, and most of them are women, but the share of men who are caregivers is also increasing. And the number I quoted with to you before that 790,000 I don't know if I did that actually, but how many family caregivers there are in Oregon? Most of them, though, are people who are caring for an adult who needs care. There are the in that number that I gave you, it does include those who are caring for children with special needs. But I think what is not captured here are, you know, other things that older adults contribute to our society and families at large, like older adults are really doing a lot to support their loved ones across the age spectrum, especially during the pandemic, we saw, you know, people having to go back to work, and they're turning to mom And dad to care for their kids during that time. So that caregiving as a general rule is all about, you know, the care that we afford each other and how we need each other to support and be able to thrive as we live. This report just happens to focus on the care that you know, that helps older adults, largely, and also children with more advanced and health needs.
MICHAEL DUNNE: I'm thinking, especially with that huge number you talked about the number of Oregonians providing care? I'm thinking, Boy, that's a lot of people who maybe can't necessarily enter the workforce because they're caring for someone at home. That's a lot of people that maybe aren't, you know, donating or volunteering their time for other worthy organizations. It seems like with this, with this, you know, huge number, it places a lot of people, but also an entire state at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of taking advantage of people's ability to work skilled labor, those sorts of things. I just wanted to get your kind of read on that as well.
BANDANA SHRESTHA: No, that's a really good point. You know, it is a burden for individuals who are caring for their loved ones. It, you know, the emotional toll, the financial tool we just talked about are, it's tremendous, but these are things. You know, caregiving is something that we have done as humans for a long time. But what we can say is that, you know, more and more as people live longer, we do need to think about maintaining quality of life. And you know, this report tells us that 30% more than 30% of people who are family caregivers, are actually doing so on a full-time basis. And since. See 2% are working while they are caregiving. So, to manage that, they're reducing hours or having to leave their jobs or take, you know, jobs that are not as responsible, maybe, and there is a financial toll, and because the value of family caregiving to our society is so great, one of the things that AARP is really focused on is, how do we support family caregivers so that they can thrive and they can help their family members maintain quality of life? So, we have resources that we make available for family caregivers. We have family caregiver resource guides. We have classes that people can take and learn about local services and resources that are available in our community. And in addition, we are also advocating for policies that really support family caregivers. For instance, we have a federal legislation we are supporting. It's called the credit for caring Act, which would afford tax credits that people who are for qualified expenses that they know, individuals can qualify for. And we believe that family caregivers should be supported, because it really benefits not only the individual family, but our society at large.
MICHAEL DUNNE: This is, this is fascinating stuff, and I think it's something that perhaps people aren't aware of and it's great that, you know, AARP has this survey out to draw attention to it. We've been speaking with Bandana Shrestha, she's the Oregon State Director for AARP. Really appreciate you coming on and talking about this incredibly important and salient issue.
BANDANA SHRESTHA: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so glad to have an opportunity to talk about it. You know, November is family caregiver month, and it's a time to recognize family caregivers. So, I just want to say thank you to all of you who are caring for your loved ones, there are resources available. Please tap into that. Talk to somebody in your community, also, because we have our area agencies on aging and the ADRC. So, there are lots of resources. You don't have to do it alone, and we are all in it together.
MICHAEL DUNNE: That's a great way to end it. We're all in this together again. Thank you so much.
BANDANA SHRESTHA: Thank you.
MICHAEL DUNNE: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Tomorrow on the show, it's a good news bad news topic, we'll hear some good news about the state's overall improvement in absentee rate among school kids, but also some continuing bad news in absenteeism for Lane County. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon On The Record. Thanks for listening.
