Wyden, Merkley send federal dollars to aid Oregon’s health crises 

Oregon will get millions in federal funding to put toward health care and addiction treatment projects that stretch from the Portland region to rural communities.

The funding, announced this week by U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, has cleared Congress and been signed into law by President Joe Biden. The projects range from $3 million for a statewide awareness campaign about Oregon’s 988 suicide prevention hotline to $978,000 for a center in Ontario that will assess and help people in behavioral health and addiction crises in rural eastern Oregon. 

The funding comes shortly after Oregon lawmakers approved $211 million for an array of drug addiction treatment services, new facilities and programs, including clinics, medication in jails and recovery houses. While the federal funding is just a fraction of what the state allocated, it plays a major role in helping local agencies finalize their budgets and move forward on major projects that will save lives in Oregon, officials said.

For example, Washington County will receive $2.5 million to construct its Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment. The 80,000-square-foot project, with two locations, will provide 86 treatment beds and outpatient services for people and help them find housing. 

County officials have been planning the $64 million project since 2019 and lining up funding from a variety of sources. Those include Measure 110 funding, state funding and opioid settlement funding from Oregon’s litigation against opioid manufacturers. 

The $2.5 million is the final piece of that, allowing work to move forward, said Kristin Burke, behavioral health special projects supervisor for Washington County Health and Human Services.

“We are fully funded for the project, which is a great place to be,” Burke said in an interview. “We can really focus at this point on getting this program off the ground.”

The groundbreaking is scheduled for May and the facilities will open in 2025. The work comes as Oregon faces a lack of beds for addiction and behavioral health services across the state: a recent state report found the shortage is nearly 3,000 beds statewide. 

“This program will not fill 100% of the needs, but it’s going to be a really good start,” Burke said.

State gets $3 million for 988 awareness campaign

Education and prevention are also in the mix. The federal government is sending $3 million to the Oregon Health Authority for a public awareness campaign to educate Oregonians about the 988 line that people can call or text to talk to a counselor if they are in a crisis and contemplating suicide.

The health authority is still planning its awareness campaign and will finalize the details in April or May and recommend a timeline, said agency spokesman Dean Carson. The state has not set a launch date yet because it is waiting on information about when a national awareness campaign starts so efforts are coordinated, Carson said.

“It’s understandable that some people may be hesitant to call a crisis number, especially if they have experienced an emotional or mental health crisis in the past, have been adversely impacted by systemic and historical social injustice or have experienced harm or mistreatment by police or health care systems,” Carson said. “Yet 988 offers a critical opportunity to reimagine how we respond to crisis, including a long-term vision where any behavioral health crisis is met with a behavioral health response.”

The plan will take into account different audiences across the state and look for ways to partner with community organizations and use different media, according to the agency’s planning document.

In a separate project, Lines for Life, a Portland-based nonprofit that runs 988 and other crisis lines, will receive nearly $1.2 million for a YouthLine to reach young people 10 to 24 years old around-the-clock. The project already has four centers, and the funding will allow the project to expand and add volunteers and staff to take calls from young people, CEO Dwight Holton told the Capital Chronicle.

Lines for Life currently serves about 25,000 youth annually through that project from across the United States, Holton said. About 350,000 youth call 988 annually.

“Our goal is to build to the point where we have the capacity to serve all of those young people with youth peer support,” Holton said.

Other facilities get a boost 

Federal dollars also will aid the construction and expansion of new projects that will meet needs.  

It comes after addiction treatment providers have expressed concerns about the Oregon Health Authority’s slow pace at doling out available funding, including at Parrott Creek Child & Family Services in Oregon City. 

The federal government awarded $2 million to the provider for its approximately 26,000 square foot building to serve Oregon youth. The project will allow Parrott Creek to double its capacity and provide 40 beds for youth who need residential behavioral health treatment. 

“Parrott Creek will use this federal funding to help Oregon fill the large hole in its system of care by applying trauma-informed principles as much to the care we provide to kids as we do to the design of the buildings themselves,” Simon Fulford, executive director of  Parrott Creek Child & Family Services, said in a statement. “Led by a focus on equity and social justice, we hope that our new buildings and services set a new standard for the care and nurturing all children should receive no matter who they are or where they come from.”

The $25 million project broke ground in October. Parrott Creek’s efforts to get state funding for the project are ongoing, said Glenn Wachter, the nonprofit’s board chair.

Other building projects include:

$2 million for the La Clinica Acute Care Center expansion project, which will improve access to medical services for nearly 80,000 low-income, uninsured and under-insured residents in Jackson County. The project will have 12 exam rooms, on-site pharmacy services, a lab and imaging equipment. 

$2 million for a new chemotherapy clinic at the Curry Health Network Hospital in Gold Beach. Chemotherapy is not available in the rural coastal county, forcing patients to travel hundreds of miles for treatment. 

$1.97 million for renovation costs to keep the Rockwood Health Center facility in East Multnomah County operational. The county facility provides health care for about 7,200 clients annually.

$978,000 for Lifeways, a mental health provider in Malheur County, to build a center in Ontario to serve individuals with mental illness and addiction needs. 

Workforce projects 

For any residential project or program to work, staff are needed. Yet Oregon has a workforce shortage of medical professionals, from nurses to behavioral health workers. 

Those projects also are funded. 

The list includes:

$2 million for Umpqua Community College Medical Careers Hub and Clinic toward the construction of a medical careers facility on the Umpqua Community College campus. It will feature a public clinic and provide a learning environment for students.

$2 million to Oregon Health & Science University for a pilot project to aid nurse education and retention, with an eye toward addressing the state’s shortage of nurses.

$1.7 million for Portland Community College to launch a mental health and community wellness initiative to grow the availability of a skilled mental health workforce with more classes for current workers looking to advance their careers.

$1.1 million for the St. Charles Health System and Oregon Health & Science University to start a residency program for psychiatrists in training. The move is intended to address the increased demand for mental health care as central Oregon’s population has grown.