Oregon Archives

A photo shows a teenage boy in a classroom looking worriedly down at classwork on his desk.

States Opting Out of a Federal Program That Tracks Teen Behavior as Youth Mental Health Worsens

Colorado, Florida, and Idaho are the latest states to opt out of a survey that tracks concerning behaviors in high school students. Officials cite low participation and state laws that require parental permission. But some advocates say dwindling state participation is an “enormous loss” that will make it harder to track signs of poor mental health — like drug and alcohol misuse and suicidal ideation — among teens.

By Daniel Chang

Oct. 26, 2022

A photo shows a doctor showing an elderly patient with glasses information on a tablet screen.

Blind to Problems: How VA’s Electronic Record System Shuts Out Visually Impaired Patients

Veterans Affairs’ electronic health records aren’t friendly to blind- and low-vision users, whether they’re patients or employees. It’s a microcosm of America’s health care system.

By Darius Tahir

Oct. 20, 2022

A photo shows a man weighing out an extract made from psychedelic mushrooms onto a spoon.

5 Things to Know About Colorado’s Psychedelics Ballot Initiative

The good, the bad, and the unknown about the Centennial State’s proposal to decriminalize and regulate magic mushrooms and plant-based psychedelics.

By Markian Hawryluk and Matt Volz

Oct. 14, 2022

A photo shows a demonstration of a human composting vessel, a horizontal chamber filled with wood chips and other biodegradable materials.

Asking Never Hurts

If You’re Worried About the Environment, Consider Being Composted When You Die

The idea of human composting — to help restore a forest or grow flowers — may be a little off-putting to some, but it has many advantages over traditional-but-toxic methods of burial and cremation.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Oct. 11, 2022

Signage outside the Billings Clinic in Billings, Montana

KHN Impact

Montana Health Officials Aim to Boost Oversight of Nonprofit Hospitals’ Giving

Montana is one of the latest states seeking to increase oversight of nonprofit hospitals’ giving to ensure they justify their tax-exempt status.

By Katheryn Houghton

Sept. 28, 2022

Hospitals Cut Jobs and Services as Rising Costs Strain Budgets

More than two years into the pandemic, hospital budgets are beginning to crack. One of the biggest drivers of financial shortfalls has been the cost to find workers.

By Katheryn Houghton

Aug. 26, 2022

Policies to Roll Back Abortion Rights Will Hit Incarcerated People Particularly Hard

People in jails and prisons are particularly vulnerable to the fallout from the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

By Carly Graf

Aug. 22, 2022

A photograph of an older man sitting in a chair with his hands in his lap. He is visible from the waist down.

When Mental Illness Leads to Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care

When criminal suspects are deemed too mentally ill to go through the court process and their charges are dropped, they can be left without stabilizing treatment — and sometimes end up being charged with additional crimes.

By Katheryn Houghton

Aug. 4, 2022

A photo shows a gun resting on a glass table.

Sheriffs Who Denounced Colorado’s Red Flag Law Are Now Using It

Petitions for protective orders under Colorado’s red flag law have been filed in more than half the counties that opposed it and declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries.”

By Markian Hawryluk

June 28, 2022

A photo shows a roadway lined with trash and debris. Four RVs are seen parked on the side of the road.

Sobering Lessons in Untying the Knot of a Homeless Crisis

The homeless tragedy in Portland, Oregon, now spills well beyond the downtown core, creating a crisis of conscience for a fiercely liberal city that has generously invested in homeless support services.

By Angela Hart

June 21, 2022

Digital illustration of a person waiting in a jail cell while the pages of a calendar flip.

Long Wait for Justice: People in Jail Face Delays for Mental Health Care Before They Can Stand Trial

People in jail who have serious mental illness and cannot stand trial because of their condition are waiting months, or even more than a year, to get into their state psychiatric hospitals.

By Andy Miller and Rebecca Grapevine

June 10, 2022

A digital illustration in bright ink and watercolor drawn in a cartoon style. Colorful children are visible through the windows of different hotel rooms, appearing tired or concerned and holding backpacks and stuffed animals. The exterior of the buildings are painted in dark, cool tones which contrasts with the vivid interiors.

‘Desperate Situation’: States Are Housing High-Needs Foster Kids in Offices and Hotels

Some foster children with complex mental, behavioral, and physical health needs without a foster placement are having to stay in hotel rooms and even office buildings, a practice called “hoteling.”

By Sam Whitehead

June 1, 2022

A wide shot shows rows of pews in a funeral home leading up to casket. Some of the pews are cordoned off.

COVID-19

Few Eligible Families Have Applied for Government Help to Pay for Covid Funerals

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse many families up to $9,000 in funeral expenses for loved ones who died of covid-19. But fewer than half of eligible families have applied, while others have run into application problems.

By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio

May 13, 2022

Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs Dry

Travel nurse contracts that were plentiful and paid the temporary nurses far more than hospital staff nurses are vanishing. Hospitals nationwide are turning their energies to recruiting full-time people.

By Hannah Norman

May 10, 2022

COVID-19

To Be One in a Million: ‘Who Thinks It’s Going to Be You?’

Stan Thomas’ wife, Monica Melkonian, was one of only nine people in the U.S. confirmed to have died from vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a rare side effect associated with the Johnson & Johnson covid vaccine. For the first time, Thomas shares her story of how excited she was to get the shot, how she died, and why he remains firmly pro-vaccine.

By Markian Hawryluk

March 2, 2022

Four staff wearing masks in a hospital hallway

COVID-19

The Doctor Will See You Now — In the Hallway

At Salem Health Salem Hospital in Oregon, the omicron surge is still swamping health care workers. They are ground down emotionally but keep showing up for their patients.

By Amelia Templeton, Oregon Public Broadcasting

Feb. 9, 2022

Quarantine and Tracing Rules Are All Over the Map for Students

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers guidance but calls for localities to set quarantine rules for unvaccinated children exposed to someone with covid-19. That's led to a pandemic patchwork of rules.

By Sheila Mulrooney Eldred

Nov. 16, 2021

Understaffed State Psychiatric Facilities Leave Mental Health Patients in Limbo

The pandemic has so seriously strained already tight state psychiatric hospitals in Georgia, Virginia, Texas and elsewhere that these facilities for the poorest and most vulnerable people with mental illness struggle to admit new patients.

By Andy Miller

Oct. 26, 2021

Reluctant Localities Are Being Dragged Into Court to Fix Sidewalks for People With Disabilities

Hundreds of towns, cities and states across the U.S. have ignored part of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and now it’s costing them billions of dollars to comply.

By Maureen O’Hagan

Oct. 13, 2021

COVID-19

Covid-Overwhelmed Hospitals Postpone Cancer Care and Other Treatment

Patients with advanced cancer and heart disease are among those who have had to have surgeries and other treatments delayed and rescheduled as a high number of critically ill, unvaccinated covid patients strain the medical system.

By Erik Neumann, Jefferson Public Radio

Sept. 17, 2021

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