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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2002)
September 18, 2002 Page A6 Vassar Byrd, marketing director for the Patton Home, talks about the major financial losses that caused the facility to change from a residential care facility to one serving low income single adults. W ynne D yer /T he P ortland O bserver photo by Patton Home Change Brings Uncertainty con tin u ed from F ront A fter the last o f three residents needing nursing serv ices have been placed in other facilities* Byrd will begin fi I ling the vacant room s with low -incom e adults. M ost o f the new residents will be routed to Patton H om e through transition projects like hom eless advocacy groups and substance abuse treat m ent program s. H um boldt area neighbors aren ’t sure w hat to think o f the change. B yrd said a house across the street hung a sign that said, “Save Patton H om e.” At a recent com m unity m e e tin g , so m e n e ig h b o rs e x pressed concern that the facility w as closing perm anently. O thers thought it w as becom ing an alco hol and drug treatm ent facility. Byrd said she tried to calm neigh bors as best as she could. A lcohol ics A nonym ous m eetings w ill be held every Thursday, but the Patton Home will only admit residents with at least 30 days o f sobriety. U nder current criteria, residents are al low ed to drink in their room s and have at tim es becom e drunk and disorderly on the front lawn. No overnight visitors will be allow ed, and Byrd does not expect the new residents to add to neighborhood crime. “ T h ese p eo p le are clean and so b e r an d th ey n eed a p lace to liv e ,” she said. “T h is co u ld be th e ir first step to w a rd s in d e p e n d e n c e .” As for the current residents o f Patton H om e, 4 0 o f 57 have been relocated to other facilities and 17 w ho d o not require nursing care w ill keep their room s. Som e are happy to go and o th ers are m ore than pleased to stay. “ I’m leaving ju s t as fast as I can," said Herman Stevenson, w ho has been a resident for a year and African Americans are dying at higher rates than whites from preventable diseases. In Oregon African Americans are twice likely as white Americans^ to die from a stroke, and one and a half times as likely to die from a heart attack. Prevention works. Get screened. Ask your doctor about cardiovascular disease today. It’s our right. African American Health Coalition, Inc. 2800 N. Vancouver Avenue-Suite 100 Portland, Oregon 97227 Phone 503-413-1850 six m onths. “ Its hell in here.” Stevenson tells o f a tim e w hen fire trucks w ere parked outside three tim es a day every day b e cause o f m edical em ergencies. A nother tim e he said a fellow resi dent w as hit over the head by an un-m edicated, m entally disturbed man from dow n the hall. O ne o fh is friends w as dead for tw o days b e fore anybody found the body, Stevenson said. M ore than any thing, he ju s t w ants an apartm ent o fh is ow n. In a room he describes as ‘too sm all,’ his belongings are h a lf packed and all that hangs on the bare w alls is a poster o f the tw in C arol Jo n es-W illiam s has been nam ed m anager for pri m ary care services at K aiser Permanente health care facili ties in north Portland. Jones-W illiam s was an as sistant hospital adm inistrator and operations m anager fo ra 306-bed K aiser P erm anente hospital in Los Angeles. She has also been d irector ofhealth services for the pub lic school system in C u lv er C ity, C alif, and w orked in a n um ber o f pubi ic and private health care settings in C alifor nia. She holds a m aster ’ s degree in public adm inistration from California State University and a certificate in health care pro gram s from the U niversity o f Southem Califom ia. A B eaverton resident, she and her husband have a son and daughter. Carol Jones-Williams Woman Survives Yellow Jackets Attack (A P ) — W hen R en elle Lethlean o f V an couver saw yellow jackets streaming from a hole in the vaulted eei ling o f her hom e, she figured the best w ay to stop them w as to get out some caulking. Bad idea. She stood on a w indow ledge trying to p lug the hole, and a chunk o f sheet rock from the eei ling gave way. A swarm ofthe angry wasps fell, circled her head and then m ade its w ay dow n her left arm . She scram bled dow n a lad d er and ran outside, w here n eighbors soaked her w ith a hose and began pulling yel low jacketsoffherhead, legs, arms and back. “They followed me like a blackcloud,” said Lethlean,40. “ I could feel them sting, pull out and sting, over and over.” H er doctors stopped count ing the stings w hen they got to 205. Now three w eeks after the Aug. 28 attack, Lethlean,acleri- cal workerat Adventist Medical C enter in Portland, is walking again— albeit with a limp. And her doctors say that if she gets stungagain, iteouldbe fatal; they have hercarrying an emergency shotofepinephrine. “ I have a new appreciation fo rp eo p le in pain,” she said. Free Community Fttrutn Reducing Heart Surgery' Risks Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Souther Auditorium 9155 SW Barnes Road for Diabetic Patients Thursday, Sept. 1 9 *7 p.m. Forum Speakers Tony Furnary, M.D. Cardiothoradc surgeon Stephen Bookin, M.D. Endocrinologist Join ns at this free com m unity forum Not only do one-third of all open-heart surgery patients have diabetes. but they also face greater risks from heart surgery. Now. Providence Heart Institute experts have made dramatic breakthroughs in reducing those risks. Out forum will feature: ■ The Portland Protocol ami how this procedure is saving lives ■ The effect of diabetes on the heart F ree on-site p arking. F ree sh u ttle fro m S u n set T ransit C e n te r.' I R esidents Jerry H ow ell and B ruce Parker echo her opinion o f Patton Home. H ow ell, a w h e e lc h a ir b o u n d r e c o v e r in g d ru g a d d ic t, a n d P arker, w ho d e sc rib e s h im s e lf as d e p re s se d w ith a le a rn in g d is a b ility , w ill b o th g et to stay - w ith th eir pets. N ew re sid e n ts w ill not be allow ed pet privileges, but H ow ell w ill be a b le to keep h is c a t ‘B a b y ’ an d P a rk e r can k eep h is m ed ical c o m p a n io n , a d o g n am ed ‘A lly .’ B yrd hopes the first o f P atto n ’s new residents w ill begin to m ove in T hursday or Friday o f this w eek Primary Care Manager Hired www.aahc-portland.org Advertise with diversity />/ lhc Portland Observer call 503.288.0033 or email: acls@portlandobserver.com tow ers and tw o A m erican flags. “ I w anted to leave those up until S eptem ber 11'1’,” S tevenson said. “ But now it’s tim e to go. Y ou suf focate in here.” P hyllis H arden co u ld n ’t have been happier w hen she w as told she co u ld stay. She loves the neighborhood. H er bank is around the co m er and the library is ju s t up the street. She grow s ‘w onderful to m ato es’ in the garden and en jo y s all the s ta ff at Patton Home. T hey affectionately call her the ‘Q ueen B ee.’ “ I’ve loved it in here,” H ardin said. “ I d o n ’t ever w ant to m ove.” R eserv atio n s re q u e s te d , b u t n o t re q u ire d . Please call 503-216-6595. ■ Answers to your questions w w w .p ro v id e n c e .o rg /h e a rt 1+ Providence St. Vincent Medical Center A caring d lffa ra n c a you can fa a l
