May 2, 2001 Page A3 (Cij£ JJartlauh (Dbaeruer B Health/Education Volunteer Works to Improve Women’s Health Disparities, dissatisfaction in women’s health care spurs Mary Wilcox into action B y K athleen M c F all T oday, P o rtla n d ’s C en ter for W om en’s H ealth is a re a l­ ity. But alm ost a decade ago, it was ju st an idea in M ary W ilcox’s m ind. “ I w as reading an article on gender d ifferen ces in m edical r e s e a rc h fro m a S ta n fo rd alum ni m agazine and I was struck by the disp a ritie s,” said W ilc o x . “ R e s e a rc h re s u lts w ere being applied u n ila te r­ ally to wom en yet wom en were not rep resen ted in clinical tri­ a ls .” The story o f her ensuing determ in atio n in encouraging others to jo in in her vision o f change is a testam ent to the value o f hard w ork, the im por- tance o f com m unity in v o lv e ­ m ent, and the advantages o f being an outsider. “ Initially, I sim ply wondered w hether there was any w ay I c o u ld w o rk to p r o m o te w o m en ’s health research. But as I got m ore involved, I re a l­ ized that w om en w ere very d issa tisfie d w ith th eir health care as w ell.” W ilcox describes h e rse lf as relen tless once she sets her m ind to som ething. And fortu­ nately for w om en throughout the P ortland area, she has set her sights on nothing short o f ra d ic a lly t r a n s f o r m in g w o m en ’s health care. B orn in Ashland^ W ilcox Mary Wilcox Lawmakers Call for Relief on Prescription Drugs Concerned by the soar­ that not only provides se­ ing cost o f prevention niors with the medications drugs, m em bers of they need, but also puts dol­ O reg o n ’s Senate and lars back in their hands while House Democratic cau­ saving the state general fund cuses have called on their money.” legislative colleagues to The legislators support pass pending prescription passage of Senate Bill 876 drug legislation. and House Bill 3027,as well “Our state and our citi­ as other proposals to help zens spend too much for se n io rs afford M edicaid prescription drugs,"said costs. Rep. Alan Bates (D-Eagle SB 876 would provide se­ Point), a physician. “We nior on Medicaid the same need to help low-income low prescription rates as seniors afford the medica­ low-income families on Medi­ tion they need to survive, care. HB 3027 pools the as well as reduce the state’s buying power to get amount our state spends the b est p o ssib le drug each year buying pre­ prices, the same way the fed­ scription drugs.” eral government and other “ We have a Rep. Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham), a nurse large purchasers save up to responsilbility to our se- (left), and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Canhy), urge the 50 percent on prescription niors to make sure they t o p a r s t o / w f o c e / A e c a s r o/ drugs. never have to sacrifice ba- P ^cription d”W Democrats also support sic life necessities to pur­ Welches). “Democrats are bring­ proposals, including HB chase the prescriptions they need,” ing forth real solutions to this on­ 3774, to help low-income seniors said Sen. Rick M etsger (D- going prescription drug crisis with the cost of their medications. Forest Park Doused With Insecticide The state began its battle against the destructive Asian Gypsy moth that was spotted in Forest Park. State helicopters Thursday sprayed an insecticide over a 900-acre area in Forest Park, P ortland's industrial area and along Highway 30, south o f the Saint Johns Bridge. The state agriculture de­ partm ent chose to use a com ­ m on biological insecticide th at’s a natural bacteria which kills the m oth in its caterpillar stage. Experts decided to use the spray after finding just one o f the voracious moths in Forest Park last fall. The moth has the ability to wipe out millions o f acres o f trees in a short amount o f tim e and has done just that in the Northeast. So far, Oregon has escaped w ide­ spread dam age by attacking m inor outbreaks quickly. I I earned a law degree in 1980 from U niversity o f O regon and New York U niversity and then returned to P ortland to p rac ­ tice. “P e rso n a lly , I ’ve alw ay s been interested in h ealth, nu­ trition, and exercise, but I also gained a great deal o f know l­ edge about the m edical sy s­ tem by practicing m ed ic al-re ­ la te d l a w .” In 1990, she left her legal practice in ord er to raise her two daughters. At that tim e, she also increased her com ­ munity efforts, including her com m itm ent to O H SU as a m em ber o f the Board for the OHSU Foundation. W ilcox garnered initial sup­ port for the vision o f the C WH from O H S U ’s President Dr. Peter K ohler, MD, as well as others in the m edical com m u- nity. She reached out to the larger m etropolitan com m u­ n ity . M in a a n d A rle n e S ch n itzer, G ain o r A rtz and num erous w om en jo in e d to ­ gether to form the C am paign for W o m en ’s H ealth C om m u­ nity C ouncil. In addition to en­ c o u rag in g num erous ed u ca­ tional and fund-raising events, these com m unity wom en have been deeply involved in o rg a­ nizing the A nnual W om en’s H ealth C onference, now in its s ix th y e a r. W ilcox also co-chairs the on­ going cam paign to raise some S30 m illion dollars to fund a p e rm a n e n t s ta te - o f - th e - a r t hom e for the CW H that will include educational, research and clinical com ponents. Re­ c ru itm e n t o f s c ie n tis ts for w om en’s health research is part o f this effort. To W ilcox, the existing sys­ tem o f a patient going from specialist to specialist seem s illogical. She believes it’s an indirect outgrow th o f how m edicine is taught rather than a function o f the needs o f patients. “ It sim ply m akes m ore sense to have a team o f physicians and c a r e - g iv e r s c o m e to th e w om en,” she explained. W ilcox’s efforts are volun­ tary. C onsequently, she says, “ No one can fire me! They can kick me out o f their office but I c a n 't be fired. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by pursuing my dream o f finding better w ays to d e­ liv e r h e a lth , p r o m o tin g w om en’s health research and educating wom en so they can becom e active p articipants in th eir own health c are.” PCC Board Selects Carreon Next President The P ortland C om m unity C ollege Board o f D irectors offered the presidency o f th e c o lle g e to D r. J e ss Carreon, superintendent and president o f the Rio Hondo C om m unity C ollege district in W hittier, Calif. The board announced that C arreon has agreed to accept the jo b , 'pending co n tract n e g o tia ­ tions. T he board w ill m ake the form al appointm ent at their m eeting on M ay 17. C arreon w ill becom e the fourth p resid en t o f Portland C o m m u n ity C o lle g e , the largest p o st-seco n d ary in­ stitu tio n in O regon, w ith an annual en rollm ent o f nearly 100,000 students. “ I am deeply honored and a p p reciate the confidence o f all o f those w ho were part o f the selection pro­ cess, in p a rticu la r the board o f d ire c to rs,” said C arreon. P ortland is a great place and the co llege is an o u t­ standing, n atio n ally reco g ­ nized in stitu tio n . I ’m look­ ing fo rw ard to the c h a l­ len g e s.” Karen M cK inney, c h a iro f Dr. Jess Carreon the board, said, “ We are very pleased to be able to attract a person o f Dr. C a rre o n ’s background, skills and ex­ perience to PCC. I am ex­ tr e m e ly im p r e s s e d w ith Jess. He brings the kind o f le a d e rs h ip th a t P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity C o lle g e w ill need in the com ing years. Dr. C a rre o n ’s experience in f o rm in g a ll ia n c e s w ith other educational in stitu ­ tions, business and govern­ ment agencies will be a great asset to the college. “ It came down to two out­ standing finalists,” McKinney added. “It was a very tough decision. Ultim ately, a m a­ jority o f the board agreed to offer the job to Jess Carreon.” Currently, Carreon is su­ perintendent and president o f the Rio H ondo C om m u­ nity C ollege d istrict, a tw o- year in stitu tio n en ro llin g 15,000 stu d en ts each se­ m ester. C arreon earned a d o cto rate in higher educa­ tion from the U niversity o f S o u th e rn C a l if o r n ia , a m a ste r’s degree in m anage­ m ent from the U niversity o f C alifornia, Irvine and a b a c h elo r’s degree in h is­ tory from San D iego State U niversity. Dan M oriarty, the p resi­ dent o f PCC since 1986, will retire June 30. w. SAFEWAY FOOD & DRUG v \ u TW ' Attention SENIORS Lucerne N E W FOR S E N IO R S ONLY... 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