Health & Medicine

Health professionals say despite some reports to the contrary, they’ve not found any actual cases of the novel Coronavirus in Lane County. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert reports on some preventative protocols in place at Sacred Heart RiverBend Medical Center in Springfield.

In 2018, Tiffany Eckert reported on a Springfield boy who was looking forward to getting prosthetic arms built with a 3-D printer. This is an update to that story.

PeaceHealth Oregon has confirmed plans to cut 40 jobs across their four hospitals in Lane County. This over strong objections from the union representing hospital workers. As KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert reports, many of the positions being eliminated are in the area of child delivery.

Several health groups and Native American tribes are backing a bill to expand dental care across Oregon.

On Thursday, The World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency. Lane County Public Health got a “crash-course” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to identify the deadly virus.

Five of the nurse midwives who were fired when Peacehealth closed its birth center—have new jobs. McKenzie Willamette hospital has hired them to run a midwifery service in Springfield.

White Bird Clinic has expanded services for more low-income Lane County patients. The 50-year old organization now has a new dental clinic in Eugene. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert toured the state-of-the-art facility.

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.