A8 The BulleTin • Thursday, april 8, 2021
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Success and not
success at the DMV
W
hen you think about the backlog of Oregonians
waiting for an appointment at the DMV, success
can be measured differently.
David House, an ODOT spokes-
man, told us about the successes the
DMV has had and a program sched-
uled to debut in May that should
bring more success. But if you want
an appointment today to get your
driver’s license renewed or upgrade
to a REAL ID, good luck. Is that
success?
House is right — in a number of
ways. And we aren’t just saying that
to be nice.
The DMV had to shut down its
offices for weeks during the early
days of the pandemic. And in a pre-
COVID month, the DMV could
get about 50,000 people looking for
an in-person visit. Every day DMV
offices were closed, a backlog grew.
The backlog is still there. House said
ODOT doesn’t know how big it is.
The offices did open up again.
Visits are now by appointment. For
some people, the appointment sys-
tem is success. It’s more predictable
than the lottery of showing up and
hoping a herd of others didn’t pick
the same moment. The DMV plans
to keep appointments even after the
pandemic is over. That, for some
people, is also success.
The DMV has a new computer
system for its licensing and registra-
tion. It should enable it to get more
done. It was able to process about
12,000 people to 13,000 people in a
week in June. Two weeks ago, it hit
34,000. That is success.
And in May, the DMV is sched-
uled to launch a new system that will
enable people to do a lot of things
remotely — without having to visit a
DMV office. Lost your license? You
can get a replacement. Want to re-
new your license? You can do that
and much more. Certain things will
still require an in-person visit such
as getting a REAL ID. And the great
thing about the online system is that
every person who uses it will free
up more opportunities for people
who need to have in-person visits.
Success.
ODOT requested some changes
in state law this year from the Leg-
islature. House Bill 2137 basically
gives people more of a grace period
if their license has expired. It also
removes the Oregon requirement
that people must take the written
driver exam if they have a valid li-
cense and move into the state. Every
time a person fails that test, it means
another in-person visit. House said
ODOT does not believe the require-
ment for the test in that situation ac-
tually improves safety. The bill does
other things, as well. It seems to be
on track to become law. That would
be success.
Despite all those successes, try
right now to get an in-person ap-
pointment at your local DMV.
House said he did not have spe-
cific statistics, though he said it is
generally much more difficult in
more populated counties. We have
checked for Deschutes County over
the last week. No appointments
available, at least when we checked.
That may not be outright failure. It is
not success.
Worrying increase in
calls to state’s bias hotline
T
he stunning increase in at-
tacks on people of Asian de-
scent across the country is
appalling. Oregon has its share. One
way of looking at it: Oregon has seen
an uptick in the number of reports
of bias incidents or hate crimes to its
Hate and Bias Crimes hotline.
In March, there were 182 reports
to the hotline. There were 36 reports
of anti-Asian bias with 15 classi-
fied as bias incidents and 21 as hate
crimes. There were also 3 reports of
anti-Native Hawaiian or Pacific Is-
lander bias. Compare that to 22 re-
ports total of anti-Asian bias to the
hotline in February and 10 reports
in January.
Calls into the hotline are an ad-
mittedly imperfect measure of the
levels of bias and hate crimes. It
surely undercounts. The hotline
does do something well: It ensures
victims have a place to reach out
to for support and assistance. The
people who answer are trauma-in-
formed and trained in crisis inter-
vention. You can report online at
StandAgainstHate.Oregon.Gov, or
by calling 1-844-924-BIAS (2427).
Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Publisher Heidi Wright, Editor
Gerry O’Brien and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe.
GUEST COLUMN
Oregon can make it easier
for patients to receive care
BY CONOR NORRIS AND EDWARD
TIMMONS
C
OVID-19 has shed light on the
importance of making sure
that patients have access to
the health care they need. The Ore-
gon Legislature is taking steps to ex-
pand the availability of health care
that should help address this ongoing
challenge.
Most of us have recognized the very
real threat of overwhelming health
care capacity during COVID-19, and
just how harmful that could be. How-
ever, we have been suffering from a
physician shortage for years. Even in
normal times, too many have difficul-
ties receiving primary care.
After COVID-19 is in the rearview
mirror—these challenges will remain.
Currently, part of every county in Or-
egon is considered a health care short-
age area. These are primarily rural
and low income urban areas.
People living in health care short-
age areas across the state receive worse
health care. Long wait times and
choosing to delay care worsens health
outcomes, having a long-term effect
on Oregonians’ health.
The Oregon Legislature has a
chance to change that with a simple
bill that expands access to care with-
out compromising patient safety.
HB 3036 is currently in the House
Health Care Committee. It would al-
low physician assistants to practice
with more independence from phy-
sicians. This independence will give
PAs the flexibility to provide care in
health care shortage areas where find-
ing a physician to collaborate with is
difficult.
How will this bill work? PAs per-
form many of the same tasks as phy-
sicians that provide primary care for
patients. They can diagnose illnesses,
conduct physicals and prescribe med-
ication. PAs are an important compo-
nent of health care. While they don’t
have the lengthy requirements that
physicians do, they undergo rigorous
training and education and do 2,000
hours of clinical rotations.
PAs can’t do everything physicians
are trained to do. HB 3036 harnesses
that skill and allows PAs to work to
their full potential. The current law
requires PAs to enter into a collabo-
rative agreement with a physician or
physician group. This bill would ex-
pand a PA’s options, allowing them to
also sign an agreement with another
PA with sufficient years of experience.
HB 3036 does not expand what
PAs are allowed to do outside of their
training. Instead, it allows them to
continue to provide the same type of
care they currently provide. The only
change is making it easier.
Many health care shortage areas
lack physicians, so allowing PAs to
collaborate with an experienced PA
will make it easier to practice in cur-
rently underserved locations. Helping
them receive care more easily is a win
for patients.
Even though it expands access, it
does so safely, without risking pa-
tients’ health. Oregon will still ensure
that PAs are practicing with super-
vision, so that they provide only the
care that they have the training for.
Oregon joins a growing number of
states looking to expand PA auton-
omy. North Dakota and Utah have
recently passed laws that allow PAs to
practice with full independence as a
way to solve their health care short-
ages. Oregon’s HB 3036 does not go
as far, but it is in the same spirit. It’s an
attempt to expand access for patients
by using the professionals we already
have.
Health care shortages have plagued
Oregon for too long, but it doesn’t
have to be this way. Giving PAs more
independence in collaborative agree-
ments isn’t the cure for all ills, but it
will expand access to care by making
it easier for PAs to practice in health
care shortage areas. Ensuring that
all patients in Oregon have access to
health care is important, and right
now we have the chance to make it a
reality.
e e
Conor Norris is a research analyst and Edward
Timmons is director of the Knee Center for the
Study of Occupational Regulation. Timmons
is also professor of economics at Saint Francis
University in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
GUEST COLUMN
Urban, younger Oregonians believe they can have more impact
BY KEVIN FRAZIER
A
large percentage (43%) of Or-
egonians do not believe they
can make their com-
munity a better place to
live, according to a recent
Oregon Values and Beliefs
Center survey. That figure
becomes a majority among
Oregonians ages 65+; just
62% do not believe they can
have a big or moderate effect Frazier
on their community. That
percentage is also a majority among
rural Oregonians (54%).
Comparatively, urban (64%) and
younger (66%) Oregonians feel much
more capable of having a positive ef-
fect.
What explains these differences?
There’s no one answer. Instead a va-
riety of factors have convinced some
Oregonians that the system is just
too stacked against them to be able to
turn the gears in their favor.
One explanatory factor: access to
information. Nearly 6 in 10 urban
Oregonians have a high degree of
trust in the people who publish the
news about their community;
whereas just 4 in 10 rural
Oregonians share that view.
There’s also a 10 percentage
point gap in how much Ore-
gonians in the tricounty area
trust broadcast news when
compared to Oregonians in
the rest of the state (57% ver-
sus 47%).
The connection between faith in lo-
cal news and faith in capacity to incite
change makes sense. If you feel con-
fident that you know what’s going on
in your neck of the woods, then you
likely feel capable of getting involved
or at least staying informed about ma-
jor changes in your community.
Another factor impacting the im-
pact gap: personal security. Orego-
nians 65+ seem to feel more in con-
trol over their personal wellbeing. A
full 85% of these older Oregonians
reported that they feel able to con-
trol what is important in their lives
on a majority of days. That number
plummets to 65% for Oregonians be-
tween 18- and 29-years old. Perhaps
insecurity about their own lives spurs
younger Oregonians to feel as though
it’s only through communitywide
changes that they can improve their
own well-being.
One final factor and more evi-
dence for the thesis: disparities in
how much people feel as though
community leaders care about their
needs. Almost 60% of younger Ore-
gonians agree that “[t]he people run-
ning my community don’t really care
much about what happens to me.”
On the opposite side of the spectrum,
only 44% of older Oregonians doubt
the responsiveness of their commu-
nity leaders.
Why these gaps matter
Our democracy hinges on its per-
ceived legitimacy. If people don’t feel
as though the levers of change are
responsive to their efforts to make
their community better, then faith
and participation in our democracy
understandably decreases. Consider
that around half of Oregonians in the
tricounty area are somewhat or very
satisfied with the way our democracy
works, but only 39% of Oregonians
in the rest of the state share that level
of satisfaction.
The aforementioned factors sug-
gest that we’ve got a lot of work to do
when it comes to giving Oregonians
the information and leaders they de-
serve.
What are some ways to chip away
at this impact gap?
First, address news deserts. Ore-
gonians in every community deserve
news that’s well-funded and well-re-
sourced so that they can keep local
officials accountable and share op-
portunities about how and when to
get involved.
Second, make our elected officials
more accountable to voters, not spe-
cial interests. One way this is hap-
pening is through campaign finance
reform. This will help give all Orego-
nians a chance to impact an election,
while also reducing the extreme sway
wealthy individuals and organiza-
tions hold over candidates.
Third, we can end the idea of Or-
egon exceptionalism when it comes
to good governance. This may sound
harsh, but Oregon is not living up to
its own standards when it comes to
being a leader in democracy. Across
the urban/rural divide and age spec-
trum, only 1 out of every 4 Orego-
nians think the state’s democracy has
gotten stronger in the last four years.
That’s abysmal.
To improve our democracy here
in Oregon, we have to be more open
about the fact that it’s flawed and
more intentional about instituting
meaningful reforms.
e e
Kevin Frazier was raised in Washington County,
Oregon. He is pursuing a law degree at the
University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
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