Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Page 19
‘God cares’
for mothers
Illinois Valley Youth Soccer Club defeated
Grants Pass North 5-1 in Cave Junction on
Saturday, May 3. With the win the I.V. boys
took their record to 2-3. (Photo by IVN )
The Cougar baseball team from IVHS lost
both ends of a double-header against Phoe-
nix, 9-1, 9-1 on Saturday, May 3 in Cave
Junction. The losses took Illinois Valley to 0-
12 in the Skyline Conference, while Phoenix
took the Skyline lead with 11-1. ( IVN photo)
ER visits up due to cuts in health plans
Cuts during 2003 to the
Oregon Health Plan, Ore-
gon’s Medicaid expansion
program, led to a 20 percent
increase in emergency depart-
ment visits by the uninsured.
The reductions also led
to a nearly 50 percent in-
crease in hospital admissions
of uninsured emergency pa-
tients. The study was pub-
lished during April in the
online version of Annals of
Emergency Medicine.
O’Grady lists
his platform
My name is James
O’Grady, and I am running
for Josephine County com-
missioner position #2. I am a
general contractor, a volun-
teer lieutenant firefighter with
I.V. Fire District, and a re-
serve deputy with the sher-
iff’s office.
A vote for me is a vote
for the people of Josephine
County. Our voice must be
heard and adhered to. I be-
lieve in God, country, free-
dom, prosperity, security and
justice.
I will identify and rectify
waste in the county govern-
ment, financial and otherwise.
I will endeavor to establish a
perpetual source of revenue
that exceeds our fiscal re-
sponsibilities. I oppose the
hiring of a county manager.
There have been ques-
tions regarding my position
as vice president of the Selma
Community Center. In my
brochure it lists past govern-
ment experience. My wife
and I started the original
Selma community center; the
name of our nonprofit was
C.A.R.E.1. Our organization
was the first group that took
over Selma Elementary
School after it was closed.
This was a few years
ago. Since then there have
been a number of organiza-
tions that have used Selma
Center. I am not currently
involved with the Selma Cen-
ter nor have I been for some-
time.
Researchers with the
Oregon Health & Science
University (OHSU) Center
for Policy and Research in
Emergency Medicine re-
viewed visits to Oregon emer-
gency departments during the
24 months before and after
the Oregon Health Plan
(OHP) cuts during February
and March 2003.
While uninsured patients
typically use the emergency
department less than Medi-
caid patients, there was an
abrupt and sustained rise in
emergency department visits
by the uninsured following
the OHP cuts.
“While emergency hos-
pitalizations for uninsured
patients increased by 50 per-
cent, rates for other groups
remained about the same,”
said Dr. Robert A. Lowe, a
physician and director of the
OHSU Center for Policy and
Research in Emergency
Medicine. “This suggests that
uninsured patients seeking
care at emergency depart-
ments after the cuts were
sicker.”
At the same time, visits
by uninsured psychiatric pa-
tients doubled. Additionally,
alcohol-related visits by unin-
sured patients rose by 82 per-
cent, and drug-related visits
by uninsured patients rose by
173 percent. These increases
are likely due to the concur-
rent cutbacks in mental health
and drug treatment services
by the Oregon Health Plan.
Overall, uncompensated
care for Oregon hospitals rose
from $256 million during
2002 (before the OHP cuts) to
$509 million during 2004
(after the OHP cuts), accord-
ing to research by the Office
for Oregon Health Policy
Research.
“As policymakers con-
te mp la te fun d a men ta l
changes to Medicaid pro-
grams nationwide, these
events in Oregon should pro-
vide a warning about a poten-
tial large increase in emer-
gency department use by the
uninsured in the United
States,” said Lowe, lead au-
thor of the study and associ-
ate professor of emergency
medicine in the OHSU
School of Medicine.
This project was sup-
ported by grants from the
Office for Oregon Health
Policy Research and the
Robert Wood Johnson Foun-
dation.
Sheryl Heynen, who has
completed her first year as a
Client Advocate at Illinois
Valley Pregnancy Center
(IVPC), says that her favorite
experience is “to see God’s
hand at work in every aspect
of what happens here.”
In her experiences work-
ing with clients, she loves
being able to share the truth
that “God really cares about
these young moms, the babies
and the young fathers too.”
She knows first-hand
what some of her clients are
facing. She wishes pregnancy
centers had been in existence
34 years ago when she ex-
perienced an unplanned preg-
nancy.
“It was one year after
Roe vs. Wade, and there were
no centers like this to provide
support in the face of pres-
sures to abort,” she said.
Heynen uses the circum-
stances and aftermath of her
own abortion to connect with
her clients, and to help them
through a difficult time in
their lives.
She wants people to
know that the staff at the
Pregnancy Center understand
the fears and pressures associ-
ated with unexpected preg-
nancies, and that confidential
help is truly available.
Many of the volunteers
have themselves faces unex-
pected pregnancies.
For those who may be
considering joining the Preg-
nancy Center team, she rec-
ommends praying and asking
God for His leading.
“We really need to have
more men involved here,”
she said. This is because there
are many young fathers who
need someone to come along-
side them, just as the female
volunteers do with mothers.
For more information
about volunteer opportunities,
phone 592-6058.
Child car seat safety was the theme for Illinois Valley Fire District
(IVFD) during the Children’s Fair & Pet Parade at Jubilee Park on
Saturday, May 3. Volunteer Lt. Kamron Ismaili (above) was among
those who installed 29 new seats, some of which had been do-
nated. Some co-pay seats remain. Phone 592-2225 for an ap-
pointment. Fire Marshal Jerry Schaeffer said that 80 percent of 33
seats inspected were improperly installed. (Photo by Dale & Elaine
Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept.)
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