<* -* -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