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