Health & Medicine

Oregon State University has expanded its smoke-free policy to prohibit the use of any tobacco products by anyone-- on all its properties. Implementation of the total tobacco ban, will include increased health services access to help people quit.

Douglas County Public Health network has issued an alert for illicit opioid overdoses.  The action is based on a sharp spike in fatal and non-fatal overdoses occurring within recent days.

Oregon’s flu season has yet to hit the mid-way point. An uptick in influenza activity has health officials reminding “it’s not too late to vaccinate.”

What will become of us when we die? For some, the answer may be immediate burial. A growing number of people want to be cremated. And- there is another after-death option-- WHOLE BODY donation. Oregon’s School of Medicine has a program which allows the deceased to become body donors for advanced medical education. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert brings us this story of a Eugene woman whose final wish was to give, what some call, the “ultimate gift.”

More than 500 nurses at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis have voted down a contract offer from Health Services executives. Issues in dispute include understaffing and forced overtime. 

In honor of World AIDS Day, HIV Alliance is promoting a new initiative to highlight how treatment leads to prevention.

About three weeks ago, Medicaid patients in Lane County were informed that by January 1, PeaceHealth primary care doctors and specialists would stop contracting with Trillium insurance plans and use Pacific Source instead. The move has created some confusion, but one Medicaid health care provider sees change as a good thing.

When PeaceHealth Oregon closed its Nurse Midwifery Birth Center in late summer— it left Lane County without such birthing services for the first time since the 1970’s.  On Wednesday, a community organizing group announced plans to open new, free-standing Birth Center in the Eugene-Springfield area.   

Health care providers are urging people to get vaccinated against Influenza. One of the most vulnerable populations is the homeless. White Bird Medical Clinic is hitting the road Friday to offer free flu shots at a another non-profit agency in Eugene.

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), a $30,000 Environment Justice grant. The Eugene-headquartered organization will use the funds to help Benton County and Lane County farmworkers.

After a Lane County resident was diagnosed with measles earlier this month, public health officials started backtracking the patient’s movements. Four area businesses are identified as possible exposure locations. 

The City of Eugene now has the authority to file amicus briefs in federal lawsuits that ban abortions. That’s in accordance with a new resolution city councilors approved Monday night. 

Lane County’s largest hospital network will cancel contracts with two insurers on January 1, 2020. PeaceHealth will no longer be “in-network” for patients with Health Net or Trillium plans.

As the number of vape deaths continues to rise—two of which were in Oregon—the future of vaping concerns many Oregonians. But were certain groups targeted to begin vaping the first place?

Lane County public health officials are seeing a dramatic rise in syphilis cases this year. They say the highly communicable disease is spreading because people just aren’t getting tested.

Last year, Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared substance abuse addiction a public health crisis. Since then, Portland, Medford, Jackson County, and Klamath County have followed suit. Today Lane County joined in, but not without debate. 

Opioid overdose is a deadly risk for anyone using or misusing the drug. With that in mind, Lincoln County Health and Human Services has partnered with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Springfield Treatment Center and Max’s Mission to provide free “overdose rescue kits” and education on how to use them.

Hundreds of nurses and their supporters took to the streets in Corvallis Friday to demonstrate against staffing and safety problems at Good Samaritan Medical Center. This week, the nurses’ union continues to negotiate labor terms with the hospital.

After hearing testimony from several recovering addicts, the Eugene City Council is looking into declaring a public health crisis over substance abuse addiction. 

Donors and community leaders toured a new 20-room patient family guest house Thursday on the PeaceHealth RiverBend campus in Springfield.