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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1995)
<* -* -W U - W 4v‘ »0 4" 4» ♦ • MB • * P age A5 T he P ortland O bserver • M arch 22, 1995 Mississippi Jury Awards $3.5 Million For Death Of Baby U S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala Report Card Day: Shown from left are Michael Williams, Tylvester O. Goss, Cassandra Rhone, F. Shields McManus, Willie E. Gary and Greg Davis after Rhone was awarded $3.5 million for the death of her baby in a Mississippi hospital. M eridian, MS. On Thursday February 2, a Lauderdale County Jury awarded $3.5 Million to the young mother o f a healthy two day old baby girl who died as a result o f choking on her own vomit in a hospital nurs ery three years ago. According to the Clerk o f Court, this is the largest verdict ever rendered for injury or death in Lauderdale County. The suit was brought by the mother, Cassandra Rhone, 2 1, against Je ff Anderson Regional M edical Center for fai lure o f the nursery staff to observe the baby in the early morn ing. The medical center maintained that its nurses were doing their duties in the proper manner and that the baby died o f sudden infant death syndrome which could not be antic ipated nor prevented by the nurses. The mother was represented by nationally-known trial attorney Willie E. G ary and his partner Shield McManus, o f the Stuart, Flordia firm o f Gary, W illiams, Partenti, Finney, Lewis & McManus and by Tylvester Goss and Gregory Davis, o f the Jack- son, MS, law firm o f Davis, Goss & Williams. Afterwards, Willie Gary indicated the verdict was significant for more than the litigants. Mr. Gary said: “this jury showed that the peo ple o f Meridian, Mississippi believe in justice for all, even for those o f humble beginnings." Record Number Of Children Die From Abuse/Neglect In 1994 Kay Toran, C hildren’s Services Division Administrator, released data on child abuse fatalities for 1994 at a Salem news conference Tuesday, March 7,1995. "Thirty three Oregon children died by abuse or neglect last year,” said Toran. "This is the high est number since CSD started track ing abuse deaths 10 years ago.” In 1993, there were 11 fatalities. The second highest number was in 1992 when there were 32 deaths. Toran released the following information: • For the first time there were more fatalities due to neglect rather than physical abuse. • More than one-third o f the deaths involved children under the age o f one. • Twenty seven o f the 33 fatali ties were children under five years o f age. • Under the “Neglect” category, the leading causes o f death were drowning and lack o f supervision. • Under the “Abuse” category, the leading causes o f death were bat tering and maltreatment. Also at Tuesday’s news confer ence, Representative John Minnis (R) released an update on the first ever study o f child deaths in Oregon. The comprehensive study, conducted by the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University looked at 1,800 child deaths between 1990- 1993. The cases were varied and categories include, suicides, motor vehicle accidents, maltreatment, vi olent deaths, illness, and S.I.D.S. The results o f the study will be used by the “Child Fatality Initia tive” which was established in Au- gust 1994 by Rep. John Minnis and organizations that respond to child injuries. “The goals o f the Initiative is to look for an aggressive approach to understanding and ultimately, tar geting efforts and resources to pre vent these deaths and injuries to chil dren," says Rep. Minnis. L e g is la tio n , H o u se B ill 2 5 9 2 , w as in tro d u c e d in Salem to a d d re ss re c o m m e n d a tio n s from the In itia tiv e . For more information on the Initiative or the study contact the following: • Rep. John Minnis (R-Wood Village), 986-1420 • Ben de Haan, Child Welfare Partnership (conducted study), 725- 8013 • Connie Gallagher, Children’s Services Division, 945.5687. Foundation For The Prevention Of Child Abuse Child abuse prevention was adopted as a National Exchange Club project in 1979. Subsequent ly, Exchange established the N a tional Exchange Club Foundation for the prevention o f Child Abuse. The Foundation currently co ordinates a nationwide network o f 72 Exchange Club Chi Id Abuse Pre vention Centers, with 15 prospec tive sites in various stages o f devel opment. More than 70 percent o f some 1.100 Exchange Clubs throughout the nation are actively involved in and support programs dealing with child abuse prevention. To date, more than 35,000 fam ilies and 70,000 children have been helped by the Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention network. The focus o f the Foundation and Centers is the Volunteer Parent Aide Program. Volunteer parent aides are professionally trained individu als who enter the homes and lives o f families at risk o f abuse, or where abuse has occurred. The supportive relationship that develops between the volunteer parent aide and the family breaks the cycle o f abuse. Volunteer parent aides are re cruited, trained and supervised by Exchange Club Center staff. Super vision includes individual conferenc es and monthly group meetings. Par ent aides go through intensive train ing provided by the technical service staff o f the National Exchange Club Foundation for the Prevention of Child Abuse. In 1993. more than 2,500 volun- teers--including more than 1.150 parent aides--gave their time to Ex- change Club Centers. The Foundation is endorsed by the National Council o f Juvenile and Family Court Judges and was a winner o f the 1988 presidential Award from The W hite House Of fice o f private Sector Initiatives. The award recognizes exemplary community outreach and volunteer service projects sponsored by busi nesses, trade associations, profes sional societies and other private organizations. The Foundation is striving to become the national leader in the Parent Aide Program and prevent ing child abuse. George J. Mezinko, Executive Director, The National Exchange Club Foundation forthe Prevention o f Child Abuse (419) 535-3232 or 800/760-3413. Shalala Flunks House Republicans Stating that true welfare reform must reinforce the core values o f work, responsibility, and reaching the next generation, U.S. Depart ment o f Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala graded the House Republicans’ welfare re form proposal and gave them failing grades. Shalala, speaking before the Child Welfare League o f America in Washington, D.C., demonstrated a blown-up report card and read off the inconsistencies within the Re publican’s proposal. “Proposals that are weak on work and cruel to kids are not real reform ,” said Shalala. "W h a t’s worse, they totally leave out com mon sense measures that enable people to move into good jobs. We need to ask them: Where is the child care? Where is the education? Where is the job training?” On promoting work, Shalala gave the Republicans an “F” for not balancing the tough expectations that Six evening groups are now be- * ing scheduled Issues to be addressed include women's mid-life transitions, the changing role for men in the family and in the work place, the problems o f starting over for recov ering alcoholics and substance abus ers, bulimia and compulsive eating, and problems in interpersonal rela tionships and living. Also beginning is a personal, professional, and spir itual growth group for clergy and lav Legacy Health System announced a new employee incentive program for its 5,000-plus employees this week. The Legacy Goal share program will reward employees for achieving goals in three target areas: patient outcomes (clinic quality), patient satisfaction and financial performance. Results w ill be measured quarterly and when the goals are met, employees will receive a fi nancial reward. The program will be gin April I, 1995. “We are proud to reward legacy employees whose hard work and commitment enable us to continue to streamline and integrate programs,” says Legacy Health System presi dent and CEO, John G. King. He adds,” As partners, management and staff have survived some tough times as we have worked to bring down utilization and costs.” Hospital utilization in the Port land market is the lowest in the coun try. Legacy, while maintaining high clinical quality and patient satisfac tion standards, has reduced costs to its 1991 level and has kept retail prices constant for three years. “We want Legacy to be a great AIDS Council Alarmed place to work, even in the face o f a relentless healthcare market place,” King says. "By rewarding employ ees, we can all share in the success of the organization," he adds. King also notes that the Coal Share program is based upon sys tem-wide performance: financial re wards are gained by each employee only when the whole organization meets each o f the target goals. “This is a way o f thanking Leg acy employees while at the same time encouraging them to keep up the great work." says King. a Minorities continue to be dis proportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic with African Amer icans representing 39 percent and Hispanics 19 percent of all AIDS cases. TheNational Minority AIDS Council has indicated its alarm at the figures by the Center For Dis ease Control. While the findings show increases in AIDS in women and minority populations, the per centage o f cases among gay and bisexual men has begun to drop. A Gift of Giving Camp Fire is now recruiting volunteers to teach community' problem solving to elementary school children. Help students develop a sense o f caring about their community and participate in service projects. Training and structured curric ulum is provided fo r the five 60-minute sessions. Please call Nancy Warnock by April 3rd about ”A Gift o f Giving”, 224-7800. 1 Advertise In (Elie •jLliirt lattò (Observer church leaders. T h e ra p ists and g ro u p fa c ili ta to rs are ad v a n c e d stu d e n ts en ro lle d in P a c ific U n iv e r s ity 's d o c to ra l p sy c h o lo g y p ro g ra m , w ho re c e iv e in ten siv e su p e rv i sion from L icen sed C lin ic a l Psy c h o lo g ists. Fees are based upon incom e For m ore in fo rm atio n , please call the Psychological Service Center a, 220-0390 w elfare reform m ust be about strengthening families --not tearing them apart or writing them off. Our goal must be to lift people up, not punish them because they happen to be poor or young. We need to be tough — not cruel." In the last subject. Ending Wel fare as We Know It, the House Re publicans received an “Incomplete” for not having a clear vision nor show ing a true commitment. Regardless of changes that have been made in their proposal, such as the elimina tion of the word, "orphanages,” House Republicans have not shown enough w i 11 i ngness to w ork together for com- mon-sense solutions. “Through it al I,” ended Shalala, “we need you to continue to stand up for our children. Because as you know, children don't have lobby ists. They're not a special interest group. They don't buy T V. time or host radio talk shows. And, they can’t vote.” Legacy Announces New Incentive Program Affordable Therapy For Personal Issues Appointments are being made for individuals o f all ages, who are interested in affordable therapy for a wide range o f personal issues. Indi vidual, family, child, and group ther apy are available with reduced lees through the Pacific University Psy chological Service Center, 5 1 I SU 10th Ave , Suite 400 near the MAX terminal in downtown Portland are needed to move people from welfare to work with clear pathways o f opportunity. According to their plan. Republicans consider cutting people off from welfare the same as offering them work-related activi ties. As for responsibility, the Re publican’s proposal received a “C.” although Republicans keep promis ing to include tough child support provisions in their proposal, they still haven’t done it. “ I am hopeful that the House Republicans will turn in their child support plans late,” said Shalala, "and raise their grade.” Ironically, the only outstanding grade issued was for“cruelty to kids." The Republican proposal received an “A” on this subject. “Every time I hear a plan to take food out o f the mouths o f children or a plan to punish children for their parents’ past mistakes, I am remind ed o f the movie: “ Dumb and Dumb er,” said Shalala. “ W'e all know that 2 “ a Call: 511.1-288-0035 L A A." _ 525 \ E K i/linpw ortli Portland, OR 972 Ì ! (5113) 288-3IIO Voicemail 731-1545
