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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2024)
Page 4 June 05, 2024 OHSU + Legacy Health Expands Care Continued from Front region, whether it's complex cancer care on Marquam Hill or behavioral health treatment in Northeast Portland.” As one, integrated system, OHSU Health’s 12 hospitals, 100-plus locations and about 30,000 employees will provide the scale, resources and exper- tise needed to deliver seamless, integrated health care through a more coordinated and bet- ter-connected network. By combining, OHSU and Lega- cy Health will deliver access to vital preventive medicine, primary care and specialty services in the system’s com- munity hospitals and clinics. OHSU Health will also provide leading-edge clinical trials and highly specialized services uniquely available at Oregon’s academic health center. “With greater opportuni- ties and an enhanced system from which to grow our shared future as OHSU Health, the expanded health system will stabilize and grow in the inno- vative services, tools and tech- nologies essential for the care of people by our integrated teams, and allow us to contin- ue to train the next generation of clinicians, scientists and educators,” said OHSU Board Chair Wayne Monfries. “We are excited about what we can achieve for our communities.” With a capital commitment from OHSU of approximate- ly $1 billion over 10 years, fi- nanced mostly through bond offerings, the integrated system will make needed investments in care infrastructure to improve the quality of essential services and health outcomes for com- munities across the region. Following transaction close, a Legacy community founda- tion independent of OHSU will receive funds equal to Legacy Health's cash less its debt and a negotiated withhold, for mak- ing grants in support of health, health care and health equity in our communities. In the coming months OHSU and Legacy Health will sub- mit an application to the State of Oregon’s Healthcare Mar- ketplace Oversight Program (HCMO), which reviews cer- tain health care business trans- actions in Oregon. After the HCMO applica- tion is filed, the state regula- tory review process will begin. During that time, leaders of both organizations will contin- ue to work with their employ- ees to ensure a smooth transi- tion and effective planning for operational integration, pend- ing regulatory approval. Donald Trump’s Hush Money Criminal Case! Trump Becomes the First Former US President Convicted of Felony Crimes (AP) — Donald Trump’s law- yer told The Associated Press he was surprised at Trump’s stoic demeanor as he listened to the verdict that made him the first for- mer U.S. president convicted of a crime. Todd Blanche was sitting to Trump’s left in the Manhattan courtroom as the verdict was read — the jury foreman repeating the word “guilty” 34 times. “I was shocked at how he took the verdict,” Blanche said. “He just stood there and just kind of took it. And I think had a lot of appropriate solemnness for the moment that made me very proud to be sitting next to him when it, when it was happening,” said Blanche, adding that he thought Trump was still handling himself well on Friday, the day after the verdict, even as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee railed that the trial was unfair. “He’s not happy about it, but there’s no defendant in the his- tory of our justice system who’s happy about a conviction the day after. But I think he knows there’s a lot of fight left and there’s a lot of opportunity to fix this and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” said Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney in the New York case and his classified documents fed- eral criminal case in Florida. A jury of a dozen New Yorkers con- victed Trump on all counts of fal- sifying business records, a felony punishable by either incarcera- tion, probation or a fine. As the foreman read the verdict, Trump Former president Donald Trump comments to members of the media after a jury convicted him of felony crimes. His attorney Todd Blanche, right, listens. (AP photo/ Seth Wenig, Pool) shook his head slightly, but didn’t vent his frustration until he left the courtroom. Trump has vowed to appeal. Speaking to reporters Friday, Trump portrayed himself as a victim of a “rigged” trial, which he claimed was orchestrated by Democrats to stop his pres- idential campaign. Afterward, President Joe Biden said it was “reckless,” “dangerous” and “ir- responsible for anyone to say this is rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.” Blanche pushed back on Biden’s comments, saying it was natural for Trump to believe the law was being used unfairly against him. He cited the three other criminal cases pending against Trump: two cases in Georgia and Washington where he is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the one in Florida, where he is charged with illegally possessing classified records after he left the White House. “I believe in the justice system, and I always will. And I don’t think that that one case should change anybody’s view,” said Blanche, a former federal prose- cutor who left his job at an elite law firm to represent Trump. “But if you were Donald J. Trump and you have four indictments ... you don’t think you would say you thought it was rigged? OK.” “I think it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, that’s dangerous. Just keep on showing up at your four indict- ed cases, sir. Stop saying it’s rigged.’ You know. ‘Nothing to see here. Totally normal.’ I don’t think it’s dangerous. I think it makes the system better,” Blanche said. The jury reached its verdict around 4:20 p.m. on Thursday, just as it appeared deliberations were going to be stretching into a third day. Just a few minutes ear- lier, Judge Juan M. Merchan had returned to the courtroom to an- nounce that, in lieu of a decision, he’d be sending jurors home for the evening at 4:30 p.m. “I’m a trial attorney and I’ve had a lot of trials and I had a lot of verdicts. And this one was by far the most kind of surprising in the timing of it,” Blanche said. “We were all ready to go home. I think it was pretty clear that they were going to keep on working. There hadn’t been any notes. The first note was a pretty complicated one about testimony, and then asking to have the charge read back to them. So that’s a jury that’s kind of in it for the long haul.” Blanche and Trump were having a pleasant conversation as they sat at the defense table waiting out what they thought were the last few minutes of the court day. “We were kind of getting our minds right,” Blanche said. “Hav- ing a jury deliberate is stressful for everybody involved, but for sure for President Trump. And so we’re trying to get his mind right, that everything was proceeding like it should. And then the judge said we have a verdict.” Asked about his handling of the case, Blanche said the defense team had done its best. On Trump’s decision not to testify, Blanche said that decision ultimately fell to the former pres- ident. “He definitely wanted to testi- fy,” Blanche said. But he said they knew that prosecutors were going to be able to cross examine Trump on areas “that are very complicat- ed,” because they are the subject of legal appeals. “There would have been a lot of sideshows if he were to testi- fy that would have, I think, made it a challenge for him,” Blanche said. “He was elected president and he’s running again, and so he obviously connects with people and connects with voters, and I think certainly can connect with a jury as well. But it wasn’t quite as simple as that in reaching that decision.” Among the things Trump could have been asked about by prose- cutors were a $455 million judg- ment pending against him in a fraud lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general and other judgments against him in lawsuits brought by E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault. Blanche acknowledged there was a chance Trump might be sen- tenced to jail time. “On the one hand, it would be extraordinary to send a 77-year- old to prison for a case like this. A first-time offender who was also president of United States, I mean, I think almost unheard of,” Blanche said. On the other hand, Blanche said, “this is a very highly publi- cized case” in which some might argue Trump deserves a harsh- er punishment because he faces charges elsewhere. “So it’s going to be a very, I think, contentious sentencing where we’re going to obviously argue strenuously for a non-incarceratory sentence.” Trump’s sentencing is sched- uled for July 11.
