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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.