WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Should Oregon have a say in healthcare mergers?
Health care stakeholders and access advocates are
pushing to give the Oregon Health Authority oversight
of mergers and acquisitions of certain private health-
care entities and require those entities to prove pub-
licly that any deal is beneficial for Oregonians.
They say the proposed legislation is particularly
needed after the coronavirus pandemic and corre-
sponding economic recession pummeled smaller hos-
pitals and independent physician offices.
“Experts expect a wave of consolidation and we see
no reason why Oregon would be immune to that,” said
Kirsten Isaacson, research director for Service Em-
ployees International Union Local 49, which repre-
sents healthcare employees.
Such mergers and acquisitions have significantly
consolidated the industry over the past few years and
tend to increase costs and harm access for patients,
especially for rural areas and historically disenfran-
chised communities, according to a new report from
the union.
The bill takes inspiration, in part, from laws in Cali-
fornia, Washington and Massachusetts.
Rising healthcare prices
The report states that between 2016 and 2018, the
share of physicians associated with a health system
grew by more than 27%, attributable largely to consoli-
dation.
In Oregon, the number of independent hospitals
has fallen by 43% since 2000 for the same reason.
Additionally, in the past four years, the amount Or-
egonians paid for health care increased by 29% —
greater than the rate increase of the country as a
whole.
“We already have a price problem in the state. Con-
solidation is well-documented to increase prices and
we, frankly, can’t afford that,” Isaacson said.
The sponsor of House Bill 2362, Rep. Andrea Sali-
nas, D-Lake Oswego, said the legislation fits within the
goal of Gov. Kate Brown and Democratic legislative
leaders of approaching this session from a perspective
of equity.
The goal of the bill is simple, Salinas said: Keep
health care costs from rising and maintain access lev-
els.
Mergers and acquisitions aren’t inherently bad, she
said, so long as they benefit, or are at least neutral to,
consumers.
“I hope (the bill) injects some competition back into
our health care system so we can start to bring down
the price of health care,” Salinas said.
What the bill would do
HB 2362 would require health care entities to get
approval from the Oregon Health Authority before any
mergers, acquisitions or affiliations.
OHA could deny approval if the businesses can’t
prove the deal would: reduce patient costs; increase
access to services in underserved areas; or rectify fac-
See MERGERS, Page 2A
Buying the
'American Dream'
in a hot real
estate market
Whitney Woodworth and Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Silverton High School’s David Russell runs drills with his teammates during practice earlier this month.
ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Prep football cleared
for return in Oregon
Gov. Brown gives schools
OK to play outdoor
contact sports again
Chris Hansen
Register-Guard
USA TODAY NETWORK
Gov. Kate Brown announced that the Oregon
Health Authority is revising its guidance for outdoor
sports as well as its exemption for college sports.
In other words, there is now a path for high school
football to return to the field, as well as other prep
sports and lower division college sports.
Outdoor contact sports can resume with teams
asked to follow the COVID-19 health and safety proto-
cols already put in place by each county.
Teams in low or moderate risk counties are clear to
play right away. Teams in high risk or extreme risk
counties will have to “opt in” to the football season by
adding protocols such as on-site testing for symptom-
atic individuals, contact-tracing information, isola-
tion and quarantine procedures, and a waiver identi-
fying health and safety risks.
Marion and Polk counties are still extreme risk, as
in Lane County.
“It’s just been a roller coaster of emotions as I’ve
been sending stuff out to kids and our community
members. Everyone is pretty excited,” Cascade head
football coach Brandon Bennett said. “We’re already
doing the contact tracing, we’re already prepared for
our district to start hybrid so the next step is getting
access to the rapid tracing for those that are showing
symptoms.
“For us at Cascade, the only potential challenge is
getting access to the rapid testing. I think that’ll be the
biggest challenge is how do we get them and how fast
can we get them.”
In Eugene, Churchill football coach AJ Robinson
said, “There are things that we can come up with and
be creative as a community now that we have some
guidance and some direction of what we’re allowed to
do. Now the door is open, and that’s good.”
There was still plenty of confusion locally about
Brown’s announcement and how and who clears
See SPORTS, Page 2A
Oregonians can check on vaccine online
State, Google create
Get Vaccinated Oregon
Virginia Barreda
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Oregonians can now use an online tool to find out
when and where they can get vaccinations for the
novel coronavirus.
The tool called Get Vaccinated Oregon allows us-
ers to answer basic questions to learn if they are eligi-
ble and get linked to information about vaccinations
in their counties, according to officials with the Ore-
gon Health Authority. Users can sign up for alerts to
get notified about vaccination events or find out
when they may become eligible.
The program,was developed by Google in partner-
ship with the state.
Get Vaccinated Oregon comes as approximately
168,000 adults age 80 and older became eligible to get
a COVID-19 vaccine Monday, though nearly 33,000
people age 80 or above have already been vaccinated,
officials said.
While vaccine supplies are expected to increase in
the coming weeks, supplies are scarce. State health
officials asked for patience as more than 700,000
seniors age 65 and older will become eligible for vac-
cines over the next four weeks.
“My promise to older Oregonians is this: if you
want a vaccination, you will get one,” Oregon Health
News updates: h Breaking news h Get updates from
the Silverton area
Photos: h Photo galleries
See HOUSING, Page 3A
See VACCINE, Page 4A
Vol. 140, No. 9
Online at SilvertonAppeal.com
After months of looking for a bigger house in a
better location for their family, Diana Sotelo and her
husband put in an offer for a new house under con-
struction near Cordon Road NE and Kale Street NE.
They wanted more space to raise their 4-year-old
daughter.
Their family was outgrowing their house near
Chavez Elementary, and low interest rates tempted
them to find something bigger. After working to im-
prove their credit, Sotelo began working with Tu Ca-
sa Real Estate.
They held their breath as they awaited accep-
tance, and on Christmas Eve, they got the news.
They are set to move in April.
A global pandemic that many thought would
send the housing market tumbling has instead ex-
acerbated inequalities. Home sales have spiked,
pricing some out of the competitive market and
leaving developers scrambling to catch up.
Talk of a housing bubble is now common among
analysts, including those at Swiss banking giant
UBS, which has said home prices are outstripping
both wages and rents.
According to Willamette Valley MLS, the number
of home sales in 2020 reached 11,594 — higher than
even pre-Great Recession sales and more than dou-
ble the 15-year-low of 5,772 in 2010.
The average sale price in 2020 was $363,034, up
from $251,689 in 2016, according to data from Wil-
lamette Valley MLS. Marion County's annual medi-
an household income has risen about $8,000 during
the same time period, to $64,058 in 2019.
Jose Gonzalez, a Salem city councilor and princi-
pal broker at Tu Casa Real Estate, said the high cost
of rent and low interest rates are leading more peo-
ple into homeownership. High rent is also leading to
a big jump in people looking for larger homes for
multigenerational households.
Tu Casa has been in Salem for 26 years, and all its
Realtors are bilingual in Spanish — a need that has
only increased since the company started.
"For many people, buying a house is part of their
American dream," Gonzalez said.
But soaring home prices are pushing that dream
further out of reach. And local data shows that
households of color continue to be left out of home
ownership.
Karen Saxe, director of financial wellbeing for
DevNW, a non-profit working to provide affordable
housing and financial services in Salem and the sur-
rounding counties, said high housing costs remain a
huge barrier.
"We can educate people until we're blue in the
face ... but the reality is the market," she said. "The
prices in the market and the supply of affordable
homeownership opportunities are increasingly
scarce."
'Extreme demand' in Salem housing market
After 21 years in real estate in Salem, Antonio
Trejo just had his busiest year ever — and 2021
shows no sign of slowing down.
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The Crawford Crossing subdivision is nearing
completion in Turner. The town is running out of
developable land and looking to expand its
boundaries. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL