A8 The BulleTin • Wednesday, sepTemBer 21, 2022
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Oregon’s hospitals
are going to need
more financial help
H
ospitals across Oregon may have returned closer to pre-
pandemic patient revenue. But if it was a revenues/costs
race, the costs are winning.
It isn’t just St. Charles Health System
that has been suffering from finan-
cial troubles. The combined operating
margin of Oregon’s hospitals dove by
about 302% for the first part of 2022.
The culprit is largely increasing payroll
costs. The squeeze put on hospitals can
mean patient care could suffer.
The federal government helped prop
up nurse staffing agency contracts un-
til recently because of the pandemic.
That money is no longer available.
The state of Oregon may step in.
One request from the Oregon Health
Authority is for the state to allocate just
over $9 million from the general fund
budget and to increase the limit of the
federal funds the agency may spend by
another $2 million.
The way that money would be spent
is important. The bulk of it would go to
pay nurse staffing agencies for contract
nurses, not permanent nursing em-
ployees for hospitals.
What that would do is help for about
six months. It’s a temporary stopgap.
But the state’s Legislative Fiscal Office
has pointed out key problems.
When the money runs out, what will
hospitals be forced to do? The tempo-
rary fix is not going to add a lot of cer-
tainty for nurses, hospitals or patients.
And Oregon’s and the nation’s nursing
shortage is not going to be over in six
months.
If the state continues to pick up the
tab, for say all of 2023-2025, the bill
may come to $28 million, not account-
ing for inflation. Maybe that is worth
it. It is a lot more money.
And if the state invests this money
in paying for nursing staffing agency
contracts, isn’t the state just creating
a perverse incentive? More nurses
may shift to contractual employment
with staffing agencies. Hiring nurses
to work directly for hospitals is less
expensive.
Maybe this is just the kind of thing
that Oregon has to do now. But what
are legislators going to do to push
the state to find more permanent
solutions?
Legislators on the Joint Subcommit-
tee on Human Services are scheduled
to discuss this issue on Wednesday.
You can find more information here:
tinyurl.com/ORhospitalmoney.
My Nickel’s Worth
What about the victim?
Does Oregon’s state plan
for housing get it right?
W
e all know Oregon has a
housing shortage. How big
is it?
The state has a shortage of hous-
ing of about 110,000 units. If the state
is truly committed to housing the
homeless, the need goes up by another
29,000.
Another way of looking at it is just as
dismaying.
During the pandemic 2109-2021,
some 53,200 new households formed.
Do you know how many housing units
were built? 28,500.
We’re short. It drives up prices. And
we all know the impact that has had on
families and employers.
A state government plan to help is
coming. Legislators are scheduled to
get a briefing on it on Wednesday. It’s
from the Oregon Department of Land
Conservation and Development. And
we couldn’t help but notice that it is
the same state agency that just went
through a rulemaking process under
the direction of Gov. Kate Brown to
bring the state more restrictive land
use regulations.
The DLCD housing plan is packed
with statements that sound great.
“Plan for what’s needed.” “Build what’s
needed, where it’s needed.” And “Com-
mit to working together with urgency.”
The idea is Oregon will shift from
█
a historic focus on ensuring sufficient
land is available, which, well, got us
where we are. Instead, state and local
governments would partner to do more
to break down development barriers
and even fund the housing that the
market would not produce. Local ac-
tion would be refocused on production.
It sounds like a wiser approach.
What will it mean in reality? What will
it cost? It’s hard to know.
When we read in the draft plan that
the state will “unlock land, where it’s
needed” that’s where we know people
are going to disagree. Oregonians don’t
agree on what land should be allowed
for development.
The DLCD just brought the state
more restrictive development require-
ments, mandating denser development
in new climate friendly areas. At least
30% of new residential growth has to
be built in the new zones in the state’s
larger cities.
Some will say that was an import-
ant change for the climate and smarter
growth But is it going to make it easier
to make up Oregon’s housing shortage?
Or tougher?
You can read the DLCD’s draft plan,
here tinyurl.com/DLCDhousing. It is
accepting comments on its plan through
Oct. 3. Comments can be submitted to
housing.dlcd@dlcd.oregon.gov .
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.
I’m writing in response to Mark
Labhart’s defense of Betsy Johnson
in the recent newspaper regard-
ing the auto accident she caused
in 2013. In his rebuttal to Rick
Neufeld’s letter of the prior Sun-
day, he mentions that Johnson
was injured, but nowhere does he
mention the actual victim of the
accident. Her name is Melissa Gal-
lentine, who in 2015, after unsuc-
cessful negotiations with Johnson’s
insurance company, sued Johnson
seeking $261,000 in compensation
for her injuries. It took her four
years to fully recover from her in-
juries, which included a sprained
back in multiple places and mild
traumatic brain injury (per Willa-
mette Week dated 07/06/22).
Ms. Gallentine’s lawsuit was dis-
missed after Johnson’s attorneys ar-
gued she was shielded by legislative
immunity. Gallentine subsequently
refiled her lawsuit, which Johnson
claims to have settled for $43,000
per her campaign.
I thought Mr. Neufeld was
clear in his letter that this was not
about the accident, but Johnson’s
response to the lawsuit. It is irrel-
evant that, as Mr. Labhart says,
no citations were issued and no
charges were filed against Johnson.
What is relevant and indisputable
is that Betsy Johnson caused the ac-
cident and was responsible for the
injuries incurred by Ms. Gallen-
tine, who was the innocent party.
By claiming legislative immunity
Johnson didn’t want to pay for the
victim’s injuries. She wanted the
people of Oregon to pay instead.
I believe that Johnson’s behav-
ior was irresponsible and should
disqualify her from serving as gov-
ernor.
— Pam Berreyesa, Bend
are much deadlier than other com-
mon suicide methods. And when
asked in a survey about this pro-
posal, 22% of veterans said they’d
sign up. Join me in urging Repre-
sentative Bentz to prevent veteran
suicide by supporting HR 8361.
— Fred Vars lives in Birmingham,
Alabama and is a law professor at
the University of Alabama.
Help stop veteran suicide
Seventeen U.S. veterans die
by suicide every day; 12 of those
deaths involve a firearm. U.S. Rep.
Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, is well-po-
sitioned to reduce this tragic death
toll by supporting a bipartisan bill
currently pending in one of his
committees (Judiciary).
The Preventing Suicide Through
Voluntary Firearm Purchase Delay
Act (HR 8361) would give individ-
uals at heightened risk of suicide,
like veterans, the power to suspend
their own ability to purchase a fire-
arm. Participation is purely volun-
tary, so there is no Second Amend-
ment issue. No gun owner would
be impacted in any way.
I grew up in Oregon, often vis-
iting Bend. I fired rifles and shot-
guns in Boy Scouts and on my
grandfather’s farm. But I choose
not to own a gun today, because
I fear I might use it in an impul-
sive suicide attempt. I have bipolar
disorder, and I have experienced
periods of severe depression and
suicidal thinking. In good times,
I want this tool to protect myself
against dark days.
Giving veterans greater control
over their own access to firearms
would save many lives. Firearms
Oliver Tatom for Deschutes
County commissioner
Recently we hosted a house party
to support Deschutes County com-
missioner candidate, Oliver Tatom.
Oliver is an RN and EMT by train-
ing, and is very focused on find-
ing a path forward as we address
the challenges experienced by our
growing county. We particularly
appreciated his upbeat, positive at-
titude, and commitment to collab-
orating with all stakeholders for the
common good. Oliver welcomed
the “hard questions” and answered
them thoughtfully.
Here are comments from house
party attendees:
“He’s exactly what the county
needs…youth, principles, integrity
and a vision.”
“It was very educational since we
really didn’t know what a County
Commissioner is responsible for.”
“He thinks ‘outside the box’/
from a new perspective.”
We will continue our support of
Oliver Tatom, and hope that you
will too.
— Monte and Kathy Dammarell,
Bend
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With Putin reeling, now is the time to help Ukraine win
BY MAX BOOT
The Washington post
R
ussian dictator Vladimir Putin
keeps going from bad to worse
in his invasion of Ukraine.
From his perspective, the last week
has been an unmitigated catastrophe.
Ukraine’s stunning, surprisingly
successful Kharkiv offensive has con-
tinued rolling on, having already
liberated an estimated 3,500 square
miles from Russian rule — i.e., more
than Delaware and Rhode Island
combined. Ukrainian troops are now
nearing Luhansk province, which
they had lost in July. That makes it
increasingly unlikely that Putin will
ever achieve even his scaled-down
objective of conquering the Donbas
region. (Luhansk is one of two prov-
inces that make up Donbas.)
The Russian forces keep trying
and, so far failing, to reestablish a
new defensive line. Over the week-
end, Ukrainian troops crossed the
Oskil River, a natural barrier to their
advance. The Russian retreat has re-
vealed disarray and low morale in the
ranks of Putin’s military. In Izyum,
Russian troops have left behind more
mass graves of their victims to be un-
covered by war-crimes investigators.
Putin has never counted on being
loved, but his rule has depended on
an aura of fear and power that is now
being drained away — to be replaced
with revulsion and contempt. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi of India, a
leading buyer of Russian energy and
weapons, openly rebuked Putin during
a meeting of the Shanghai Coopera-
tion Organization in Samarkand, Uz-
bekistan. China’s Xi Jinping has not
openly criticized Putin, but neither
has he supported the Russian dicta-
tor. Chinese companies are not filling
the vacuum left behind by Western
firms exiting Russia, and China is not
supplying weapons to Russia, forcing
Putin to go weapons-shopping in Iran
and North Korea.
One indicator of Putin’s reduced
status in the world is how several
other world leaders kept him wait-
ing before meetings in Samarkand
— employing against him one of
his own favorite tactics for asserting
dominance.
Another sign of the times: The
U.N. General Assembly voted 101-7
on Friday to allow Ukrainian Presi-
dent Volodymyr Zelensky to deliver a
televised address. Besides Russia, the
only other countries voting no were
fellow rogue states Belarus, Cuba,
Eritrea, Nicaragua, North Korea and
Syria. Russia is almost entirely iso-
lated. Even Kazakhstan, once one
of Moscow’s closest allies, broke
with Putin at the U.N. as part of its
broader refusal to support his war of
aggression. Another Russian ally, Ar-
menia, has been on the receiving end
of a renewed offensive from Azerbai-
jan, which might be taking advantage
of a distracted Kremlin.
Given the heavy losses of men and
materiel Russia has suffered since the
beginning of this ill-advised war (at
least 70,000 casualties along with the
loss of 6,200 vehicles, 11 ships and
more than 200 aircraft of all kinds), it
will be hard put to recover. Putin still
appears afraid of ordering a general
mobilization for fear of the societal
discontent that an expanded draft
could bring.
So he is relying on the dregs of
society to do his fighting for him.
“Putin’s chef,” the oligarch Yevgeniy
Prigozhin, has apparently taken to
recruiting mercenaries for his Wag-
ner Group in prisons. Sending more
criminals will likely further under-
mine the already low quality of Rus-
sia’s undisciplined, discontented
forces in Ukraine, raising the risk of a
general collapse.
But while Russia is down, it is not
yet out. More than 150,000 people
have been freed from Russia’s yoke
in recent weeks, but an additional 1.2
million Ukrainians still live under
brutal occupation. Russia continues
to occupy roughly 20% of Ukraine,
and Ukraine will require more West-
ern military equipment to finish lib-
erating its soil. Ukraine desperately
wants higher-end weapons systems
such as F-16 fighter jets, Gray Eagle
drones, Patriot air defense missile
batteries, longer-range missiles, and
main battle tanks such as the Ger-
man Leopard 2 or the American M1
Abrams.
Even though the Ukrainian armed
forces have shown they can rapidly
assimilate sophisticated Western sys-
tems such as the High Mobility Artil-
lery Rocket System (HIMARS), the
United States and its allies are still
reluctant to provide the weapons that
Kyiv is asking for. The essential rea-
son, once all the excuses are stripped
away, is that we are still deterred by
threats of Russian retaliation. In-
deed, the worse Putin does, the
more scared we seem to get. Under-
secretary of Defense Colin H. Kahl
just put out a statement claiming:
“Ukraine’s success on the battlefield
could cause Russia to feel backed into
a corner, and that is something we
must remain mindful of.”
This seems, to me, a fundamen-
tal misreading of the moment. Pu-
tin is reeling. Now is the time for the
Ukrainians to press their advantage.
Seize the moment. Don’t give the
Russians time to reset and recover.
Given the pitiful performance of the
Russian military, Putin should be
more scared of us than we are of him.
█
Max Boot is a Washington Post columnist and a
senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.