ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Legislature
shouldn’t
let program
expire
J
essica Barnett died when she was 17.
She had started fainting when she
was 12. It looked like a seizure. Her
lips would go blue. She was put on epilepsy
medication. The fainting didn’t stop.
Her grandmother read an article about
Long QT syndrome. The Mayo Clinic
defines it as “a heart rhythm condition that
can potentially cause fast, chaotic heart-
beats. These rapid heartbeats might trigger
you to suddenly faint. Some people with
the condition have seizures. In some severe
cases, LQTS can cause sudden death.” The
family thought that’s what Jessica could
have. It is treatable.
They had her tested. One test was posi-
tive. Some at a different clinic were ruled
negative. Her doctors didn’t believe that
was what she had.
Jessica fainted again one day. It was a
bad episode. Paramedics couldn’t revive
her and she died.
Genetic testing after Jessica was dead
confirmed she had Long QT syndrome.
Her parents wanted answers. They called
the CEO of the hospital to try an arrange
a meeting with her doctors. They were
denied, so they decided to sue.
Her parents gathered up her medical
records. Jessica’s mother discovered the
cardiologist never even looked at one of the
tests. It was only sent to her general practi-
tioner because that was the hospital’s prac-
tice. Other test were apparently misread.
The family was tested. Her father had it as
well, though showed no symptoms.
A lawsuit was settled out of court.
Another 18 months after the lawsuit was
settled and five years after Jessica’s death, the
parents finally got to meet with her doctors.
They didn’t know the family had requested
to meet with them. They had not been told.
“The physicians jaws dropped open.
They were thinking: ‘If we’d actually
spoken to this family we may not have had
to go through litigation,’” Jessica’s mother
said. “They were right. All we ever wanted
was to have our questions answered and
know they were making changes so this
wouldn’t happen again.”
The Oregon Patient Safety Commission
discussed this case and cases like it. This
case was from Canada. All those details we
provided are courtesy of the efforts of the
Canadian Patient Safety Institute and Jessi-
ca’s family. Where it happened, though,
does not matter so much as what can be
learned from it.
Medical errors and mistakes where
patients are harmed are going to happen.
Oregon actually has a model that allows
families to get answers when medical
errors occur — outside of a courtroom.
Passed in 2013 by the Oregon Legisla-
ture, the early discussion and resolution
system allows for an open conversation
between patients, families and medical
providers when serious harm occurs. It
creates confidentiality protections. Partic-
ipants can speak candidly and reconcilia-
tion can be found without an adversarial
lawsuit. That can encourage that improve-
ments are made in patient safety. It can
lower costs in the medical system. And
families can get answers. Analysis of the
program’s performance is convincing. You
can find more about it at the Oregon Patient
Safety Commission’s website.
But the program will go away with-
out action by the Legislature. It is sched-
uled to sunset on Dec. 23, 2023. Senate
Bill 110 introduced at the request of Gov.
Kate Brown and the Oregon Patient Safety
Commission would get rid of the sunset
provision. It was state Sen. Tim Knopp,
R-Bend, who moved the bill be sent to the
Senate floor for a vote with a recommenda-
tion that it pass. It should.
Foster home need greater than ever
ADAM
RODAKOWSKI
OTHER VIEWS
O
ne harsh reality of the pandemic
often goes unnoticed: the
continued need for foster
parents.
Similar to many regions across the
state, Eastern Oregon faces a critical
shortage of foster homes for youths
in need. Unlike many other areas,
however, these rural and frontier
communities have a history of joining
together to address complex challenges
facing their most vulnerable popula-
tions. We don’t see it as an “agency”
problem to fix, but rather find support
through community collaborations and
from the care of foster families.
In Oregon, an average of 7,345 chil-
dren are in foster care on a daily basis,
according to state data from 2019.
Greater Oregon Behavioral Health
Inc. (GOBHI) is a foster care program
that provides homes for youths in local
communities involved in the child
welfare system or for those youths being
supported by their local community
mental health program. Our agency
certifies foster families and works in
partnership with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Human Services Child Welfare
to provide additional support services to
youths and our foster families.
The ongoing need for foster families
is well known. However, the pandemic
has increased uncertainty for both
youths in foster care and foster families.
Despite this challenge, the people caring
for foster youths are making remarkable
accomplishments in the lives of youths
every day. These families make life-
long positive impacts on the youths they
serve, and are crucial to the success of
our communities.
I’m honored to work with and
support our foster families. Whether
the child they serve stays with them
for a few days or becomes a permanent
member of the family, foster families
have the unique ability to be the stable,
supportive adults during a challenging
time in the life of a child.
That leads us to the common ques-
tion: How does the system work?
GOBHI is licensed by the state of
Oregon to certify and provide homes
for youths in local communities who are
involved in the child welfare system,
or are receiving care from their local
community mental health program. We
certify homes for children and teens
ages 4 to 17. In 2019, we certified 54
homes in 18 counties.
GOBHI’s Therapeutic Foster Care
program is a higher level of service and
support than you would find through
traditional foster care. We empower
foster families to provide a safe environ-
ment that supports a healing process for
our youths. Foster families receive train-
ing and ongoing support to help them
create that type of environment. Train-
ing topics include Trauma Informed
Care, de-escalation techniques, work-
ing with biological families, cultural
awareness, and evidence-based parent-
ing practices. Each family receives an
assigned case manager to support them
and the youths in their home. Our team
is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year, to provide support and guidance.
Help doesn’t stop at the case manage-
ment level. Foster Plus is a 10-social
service agency collaboration. Its
purpose is to connect kids in need with
the support and stability of committed,
caring foster families. GOBHI leads
this collaborative group dedicated to
increasing the number of safe foster
homes and supports other agencies to
improve services to children.
The positive impact that a foster
parent can have on a child lasts a life-
time. We often hear stories of chil-
dren who may have spent less than six
months in a foster home, but later in life
contacted their foster parent to express
their gratitude.
If you have wanted to find a way to
help children — especially those chil-
dren in your own community — this is
a way to do so. You will be ensuring that
all kids in Eastern Oregon know they
are wanted and safe during a very scary
time in their lives.
Everyone can help in ways small and
large. We welcome anyone who’s ready
to make a change.
———
Adam Rodakowski is the director
of Greater Oregon Behavioral Health
Inc.’s Therapeutic Foster Care program.
Patrick Mulvihill, GOBHI communica-
tions coordinator, also contributed to this
column.
involved. Protecting this resource is not a
land grab, rather it is passing on to future
generations what was passed on to us.
It preserves what makes our part of the
world so special. I can think of no better
way to honor the legacy of those who
have gone before us and ensure a vibrant
future for those who will follow us.
Robin Coen
Baker City
occupies that space for only an hour
or two. But the servers, the cooks and
the rest of staff are there for eight-plus
hours and interact with hundreds of
people in that time. The high risk to
their health during this pandemic has
been well documented.
Instead of forcing workers into
dangerous working conditions, Gov.
Brown and all of our elected officials
should be fighting to provide financial
support to our struggling restaurants
and their employees.
Since our elected officials are
neglecting their responsibility to protect
these members of our community, what
can we do as individuals? Buy takeout.
Buy gift cards. Support our local restau-
rants however we can. Demand that our
senators, our representatives, our gover-
nor and our county commissioners do
more to protect us.
But please don’t put the health of
these workers, our fellow Oregonians, at
risk just to feel normal for an hour.
And Gov. Brown, vaccinate these
frontline workers. May 1 is not soon
enough if you are allowing indoor
dining now.
Sean Lerner
La Grande
YOUR VIEWS
Oregon’s River Democracy
Act should be celebrated
Our family has lived in and loved
Baker Valley since we settled here
after World War II. My mom and dad
built our family home, raised cattle and
worked to support the community here.
This wild and verdant country and the
rivers that sustain it are what we have
loved most about this place.
I was happy to join thousands of
Oregonians in nominating local rivers
for protection under Wyden’s proposed
“River Democracy Act.” I know many
friends and neighbors who did the same.
I understand concerns regarding new
public lands protections but the facts
don’t support the most common fears.
Read the bill, and you will find that Sena-
tor Wyden’s visionary proposal does not
affect private property rights, reduce
access or stop grazing, logging or mining.
The bill does recognize the extraordi-
nary value of our wild, life giving rivers
which are also our most valuable long-
term resource. Like all groundbreaking
proposals, successful implementation
requires thoughtful planning and local
engagement throughout the process.
I urge you to stay tuned and stay
Allowing indoor dining
without vaccinating service
industry workers is risky
It’s been a tough year for us all.
We crave any shred of pre-pandemic
“normal.” We want an escape. That is
completely understandable.
That desire does not justify putting
service industry workers’ health at risk.
By allowing indoor dining without
vaccinating service industry work-
ers, Gov. Brown is forcing Oregonians
into unsafe work conditions. She is
putting our collective desire for escape
and normalcy ahead of the lives of our
fellow Oregonians.
While eating in a restaurant, a diner