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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2002)
Page A5 July 31, 2002 Plain Talk on Medicare Offered The Oregon Medicare Educa tion Coalition is sponsoring "Plain Talk about Medicare” meetings to giv e b e n e fic ia rie s, th e ir caregivers, and advocates the opportunity to get information from experts who represent agen cies and organizations officially involved with the Medicare pro- Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center in the NSC Build ing Auditorium, 1040 N.W. 22nd Ave. No commercial products or sales are involved. Visit the OM PRO W ebsite at www.ompro.org for more infor mation. gram in Oregon The meetings are free and no reservations are necessary. The next sessions are sched uled Tuesday, Aug. 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Gateway Elks Lodge, 711 N.E. 100th Ave. and Wednesday, Aug. 21 from 9:30a.m. to 11:30a.m. at Legacy [fit's news or „robably - - >"•••_ f Sharing Expertise With the World Dr. John Handy o f Portland (left) performs a robotic surgery at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center as three visiting physicians from Mongolia observe the operation. Dr. Handy was instrumental in bringing the trio to Portland to observe American medical practices following his own trip to Mongolia last May. X ¿JAZZ Hospitals Share Decisions for Stroke Ä , A ugust 3 - 4 , 2 0 0 2 New registry aimed at improving stroke treatment (A P) — In a new effort to im prove care for stroke vic tims, O regon hospitals will soon begin sharing detailed m edical records for stroke treatm ent. T he project reflects the in creasingly collaborative efforts am ong h o sp itals to im prove perform ance and reduce w ide v ariatio n s in m edical practice. S ix te e n O reg o n h o sp ita ls w e re r e c e n tly a w a r d e d a $700,000 federal grant to help pay for the stroke registry, one o f eight such grants aw arded by the federal C enters for D is ease C ontrol and Prevention. Stroke is a high priority for the health care industry because o f its enorm ous toll. It is the third-highest cause o f death in the U nited States and a leading cause o f perm anent disability. Stroke hospitalizations and related care cost an estim ated $17 billion annually. Indirect costs, such as lost productiv ity, total $ 13 billion annually. A bout 750,000 people annu ally suffer a stroke, and 160,000 die o f stroke or later com plica tions, according to the A m eri can H eart A ssociation. A nd the m ost recent federal study ranks O reg o n ’ s death rate as the third-highest in the nation - w orse than several o f the so- c a lle d “ stro k e b e lt” sta te s stretch in g from A rkansas to G eorgia. T he reasons are un know n. Dr. T ed L ow enkopf, one o f the organizers o f the O regon registry, says the data could reveal w hether gaps in the health care system are partly to blam e for the state’s high death rate. Strokes are often a conse- quence o f untreated high blood pressure, diabetes o r heart dis ease. “A re we not m anaging th o s e p r o p e r ly ? ” a sk s L ow enkopf, a neurologist and m edical director o f the P rovi d e n c e S tro k e C e n te r at St. Vincent. D elays in seeking and obtain ing treatm ent are another likely problem. B ecau se o f th o se d elay s, the vast m a jo rity o f stroke p a tie n ts n atio n w id e m iss the c h an ce for p o ten tially life sa v ing tre a tm e n t w ith the c lo t d is s o lv in g d ru g an d o th e r em e rg in g th erap ies. H ospitals in the registry will be able to rate their care against others and sort the data to re veal practices that m ight ac count fo r above- o r below -av- erage perform ance. Join us at the all-new Festival at Gresham Main City Park at the intersection of Powell Blvd. and Main Avenue in downtown Gresham. Gates open at 2pm Jenna Mammina & Darrell Grant Kevin Mahogany And more... Russell Malone & Benny Green Melissa Walker Gonzalo Rubalcaba Rick Braun T IC K E T S A R E N O W A V A IL A B L E A T A L L S A F E W A Y /F A S T IX X T IC K E T C E N T E R S . $15 $25 advance single-day ticket $20 day-of-show single ticket advance two-day tickets Order your tickets today! 1 - 800-992-TIXX or 503-224-8499 or log onto 1 www.fastixx.com. For additional information, please call 503-665-3827. m th o o d ja z z fe s tiv a l.o r g Asthma Made Worse by Air Pollution RBGUE BORDERS Local minority children suffer because of environment Two organizations in the Port land area have taken action to raise aw areness about asthm a, a m edical condition suffered by m any A frican-A m erican and H ispanic children and made worse by air pollution. S ince w e spend ab o u t 90 p ercen t o f o u r tim e in d o o rs, and due to the tig h t sealin g and in su la tin g fo r en erg y sav ings, th e co n c e n tra tio n o f p o l lutants we are exposed to daily may be ev en g re a te r indoors than o u td o o rs. M oreover, in com m unities in north and northeast Portland, where pollution levels are higher than other parts o f the city, you essentially have no clean air to breathe! A sthm a is an inflam m atory lung disease that causes con striction o f the airw ays, making it difficult to breathe. We d o n ’t know w hat causes asthm a or how to cure it, but we do know that certain triggers c a n in c r e a s e s y m p to m s in people with asthm a. These trig gers include second-hand smoke and com m on allergens such as dust, m old, pollen and pet dan der. O ver the past decade, stud ies have increasingly show n a significant relationship between m inority com m unities and high levels of air pollution. A dditionally, these findings coincide with the results o f simi lar research show ing a higher incidence o f asthm a in m inori ties, particularly in A frican- A m ericans and L atinos. A c cording to the A m erican Lung A sso ciatio n ’s ‘M inorities and A ir P o llu tio n ’ Fact Sheet, 63 percent o f A frican-A m erican * children and 69 percent o f H is panic children live in areas that do not meet the current national ozone standards. A ccording to the Departm ent o f H um an S e rv ic e s’ O regon A sthm a Program , in 1999, the rates o f asthm a in adults with an income of less than $25,000 was more than double the rates for adults with g reater incom es. Recent studies also find e v i dence that correlates asthm a w ith people o f color living in urban settings. In light o f these findings, two o rganizations in the Portland area have taken action to raise aw areness about these startling statistics. O ne group is the E nviron m ental Justice A ction G roup, w hich is a com m unity-based, m em bership-driven organiza tion founded by a group o f north and n o rth east P ortland re si dents in 1996 to address the environmental and public health hazards faced by local residents. The other group is the A m eri can Lung A ssociation o f O r egon and its M aster Home Envi ronm entalist program . The pro gram uses trained volunteers to help people reduce indoor air pollution. The help is free and is especially geared to low-income families who are looking for low cost or even free solutions to the indoor air quality problem s. The M HE program is c u r rently interested in recruiting volunteers from the North and N ortheast Portland neighbor h oods, e sp e c ia lly people o f color. For more inform ation, call 503-924-4094 ext. 18, 1-800- LUNG-US A or 503-283-7841. • I 1 NATURES A*A MEER&FRANK If you think your hom e may contain pollutants and you want an assessm ent, contact either organization. ZpGt , "89.1 Legicv Mount Hood M n ira l tenter iARori jïîjtiœp- M’UION Fidelity National Title Company "Smoking doesn’t work in Oregon.” I remember walking out of our conference room and my eyes were literally stinging. My boss smoked, so everybody felt they had a right to light up whenever they felt like it. That was before the Oregon Smokefree Workplace Law. Because now smoking doesn't work in Oregon. And I'm breathing a lot easier. If you've got questions, please contact us: Information About The Law • Toll-free 1866-621-6107 • www.healthoregon.org/tobacco • Your county health department Oregon Tobacco Quitline • 1-877-27O-STOP • 1-877-2NO-FUME (Spanish) • TTY: 1-877-777-6534 If you have a disability and need the material in an alternate format, call 5 0 3 -7 3 1 -4 2 7 3 (TTY: 5 0 3 -7 3 1 -4 0 3 1 ). » I t
