NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Hospital won’t be held in contempt for wait times AG won’t defend secretary
Disability Rights
Oregon plans to
continue fi ghting
for Oregonians
By SAM STITES
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — After sev-
eral months of noncompli-
ance, wait times for patients
being admitted to the Ore-
gon State Hospital are back
in compliance with a 2002
rule requiring the facil-
ity to take just seven days
to admit patients who have
been ordered there.
That’s according to a fed-
eral judge in Portland, who
released an opinion Tuesday
throwing out a legal chal-
lenge by Disability Rights
Oregon, an advocacy group
suing to hold the facility
accountable for violating
people’s rights by keeping
them jailed while awaiting
court-ordered treatment.
U.S. District Court Chief
Judge Michael Mosman
affi rmed a Sept. 12 denial of
Disability Rights Oregon’s
motion to hold the hospital
in contempt. Mosman also
denied the group’s request
for legal expenses.
Disability Rights Ore-
gon Legal Director Emily
Cooper said the hospital fell
out of compliance with the
2002 rule a year ago. The
EO Media Group Photo
A federal judge released an opinion Tuesday denying a Dis-
ability Rights Oregon’s motion to hold Oregon State Hospi-
tal in contempt for violating wait times to admit patients.
group met with hospital offi -
cials until April, when it
decided to take legal action.
The group wanted the hos-
pital held in contempt for
not complying with the rule.
It also wanted the court
to track how long it took
patients to be admitted.
“We had no other option
and were forced to go to
court to get them to bring
wait times down,” Coo-
per said. “While the order
denies our motion, we’re so
pleased that the hospital was
able to reduce wait times
because that’s ultimately
what we wanted.”
According to records
obtained by The Oregonian,
between January and Octo-
ber of 2018 more than 200
patients were forced to wait
longer than the seven days
allotted by the rule. Some
had to wait as many as 36 or
42 days. Records found that
dozens of longer wait time
cases were due to factors
outside the hospital’s con-
trol, such as late-fi led court
orders and sheriffs depart-
ments transporting patients
only on certain week days.
Hospital spokeswoman
Rebeka Gipson-King said
the issue was caused by
an infl ux of aid-and-as-
sist patients — those sent
to the facility to recover so
they can be competent to
stand trial — which staff
could not have foreseen and
weren’t equipped to handle.
In June, Oregon Health
Authority Director Patrick
Allen told Gov. Kate Brown
about measures the hospi-
tal was taking to remedy
the problem, including set-
ting priorities for aid-and-
assist admissions, as well as
reducing the length of stay
for patients to make room
for new admissions and
increasing community ser-
vices for those who do not
need hospital-level care.
Allen said he’s proud of
the work the hospital has
done for the past fi ve months
to bring the facility back in
compliance.
“The judge’s decision
affi rms all the hard work
that’s gone into addressing
the hospitals’ capacity chal-
lenges, however, there’s still
more work to be done to
combat the criminalization
of people who are homeless
and mentally ill,” Allen said.
“We look forward to con-
tinuing our partnerships
with counties and local
courts to ensure every per-
son in Oregon who needs
mental health care has
timely access to treatment
in their own community or,
when necessary, at the state
hospital.”
According to Cooper,
Disability Rights Oregon
isn’t taking the ruling as a
defeat. She said the group
was committed to making
sure Oregonians have timely
access to mental health care
by continuing work on Sen-
ate Bill 937, which sent $10.7
million to community men-
tal health programs where
people who don’t need
hospital-level care can be
treated under aid-and-assist.
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Sunshine, but
chilly
Partly sunny
49° 29°
53° 32°
TUESDAY
Sunshine and
patchy clouds
WEDNESDAY
Sunshine mixing
with some clouds
Times of clouds
and sun
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
55° 33°
50° 31°
56° 30°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
50° 25°
53° 27°
55° 30°
53° 30°
55° 28°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Aberdeen
Olympia
56/38
Pullman
48/29
50/27
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
48/32
Lewiston
58/36
49/26
Astoria
50/31
Portland
Hermiston
60/38
The Dalles 50/25
Salem
Corvallis
60/35
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
52/28
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
59/33
62/32
59/31
Ontario
48/22
Caldwell
Burns
50°
16°
58°
35°
72° (1988) 8° (2003)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
59/34
SALEM — Oregon
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum is refusing to
defend Secretary of State
Bev Clarno in litigation over
Clarno’s rejection of three
proposed ballot initiatives to
tighten state forestry laws.
The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live reported that Rosen-
blum also challenged Clar-
no’s legal basis for tossing
the proposals, which Clarno
said violated a state require-
ment that legislative mea-
sures stick to one subject.
The rule applies equally to
voter initiatives and bills in
the Legislature.
Rosenblum, a Demo-
crat, said she couldn’t rep-
resent Clarno, a Republican,
because the Oregon Legisla-
ture is also a client and she
didn’t want to make argu-
ments that would impede
its work. She said she autho-
rized Clarno to fi nd another
lawyer due to the confl icting
interests.
“There is no question
that, under current law, the
legislature could pass a mea-
sure such as this one and it
would be in full compli-
ance with the ‘single sub-
ject’ requirement,” Rosen-
blum told the newspaper in a
statement. “I do not believe
there is any compelling rea-
son to argue for a change in
the current law.”
0.00"
0.00"
0.03"
4.94"
6.45"
7.31"
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
70/36
Gov. Brown to lead trade
mission to Japan, South Korea
SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown announced
Thursday she’ll lead a delegation of 41 Ore-
gon government and business offi cials on an
11-day trip to Japan and South Korea.
The Nov. 5-16 trip is meant to boost foreign
investment in Oregon and exports of Ore-
gon products to Asia. Stops include Seoul in
South Korea, and Kyoto and Tokyo in Japan.
“A thriving economy here in Oregon is
infl uenced by markets across the world,”
Brown said in a statement, adding, “I am
proud to share Oregon’s unique products,
services, and companies with the rest of the
world.”
South Korea and Japan rank as Oregon’s
third and fourth largest trading partners, buy-
ing $3.93 billion in Oregon goods — about
15% of the state’s total exports, according to
Business Oregon, the state’s offi cial business
development agency. The biggest export is
Oregon agricultural products. China is the top
trade partner, followed by Canada. The state
counts 150 Japanese companies doing busi-
ness in Oregon.
The group includes state offi cials involved
Clarno’s deputy, Rich
Vial, declined to answer
questions.
Clarno, a Republican
who has taken $36,000 in
donations from timber inter-
ests in her career, is not back-
ing down in a suit brought
by environmental advocates
trying to ensure their origi-
nal petitions advance.
She will instead be rep-
resented by Schwabe Wil-
liamson Wyatt, a Portland
law fi rm that advertises itself
as “one of the nation’s top
timber law practices.” The
fi rm says on its website it is
“involved” with the Oregon
Forest & Industries Council,
one of the leading opponents
to the ballot measures.
Clarno on Sept. 24
rejected Initiative Petitions
35, 36 and 37. The measures
are substantially the same,
calling for tightening the
state’s aerial herbicide spray-
ing laws. They propose more
logging restrictions in steep,
landslide-prone areas. They
would prohibit confl icts of
interest for state forestry
board appointees.
Clarno rejected the initia-
tives proposed by environ-
mental advocates, includ-
ing the group Oregon Wild,
saying each of the proposals
covered more than one sub-
ject. The Oregon constitu-
tion says a ballot initiative
can only address a single
policy topic.
NE 3-6
W 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
62/25
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:36 a.m.
5:41 p.m.
1:26 p.m.
10:23 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Nov 4
Nov 12
Nov 19
Nov 26
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 91° in Miami, Fla. Low -15° in Boulder, Wyo.
Former plutonium plant
demolition could resume
RICHLAND, Wash. — Demolition of
a former nuclear weapons production plant
could resume next week, nearly two years
after the dangerous work was halted because
of safety concerns.
Work to demolish the Plutonium Finish-
ing Plant on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation
was halted in December 2017 after particles
of the radioactive substance contaminated
workers and the environment.
The Tri-City Herald reported that dem-
olition work on the 1940s-era plant could
resume as early as next week.
— EO Media Group and wire services
Girls’
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Sun.
ENE 3-6
NNW 4-8
with business development, agriculture, tour-
ism, Portland city offi cials working on the
port and tourism, plus Hillsboro Mayor Steve
Callaway and two city economic develop-
ment offi cials will make the trip. Fourteen
executives from Oregon’s business commu-
nity will also take part, representing outdoor
apparel and gear, precision instruments, heli-
copter manufacturing, wireless, wineries,
beef and fruit.
�r� ������ ���l ��� ����� ��������
WINDS (in mph)
48/22
54/20
0.00"
0.00"
0.04"
11.31"
8.15"
10.03"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 50/27
60/35
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
49/29
53/31
51°
21°
56°
36°
76° (1901) 12° (1935)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
Yakima 50/26
56/35
58/40
46/29
48/32
56/34
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
55/41
Tacoma
Associated Press
BRIEFLY
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
of state over ballot measures
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Wed.
Nov 6th.
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PRIZES!
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
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