Rural Healthcare in Oregon

Rural Oregonians suffer shorter life expectancies, higher death rates from chronic diseases, and poorer access to healthcare than Oregonians in urban areas. Some rural areas in Oregon have no health providers at all. What makes healthcare so challenging in rural Oregon? What must Oregon do to raise the quality of healthcare to rural Oregonians who need it? Our panelists and moderator will address these questions and recommend methods for Oregon to meet the needs of its rural residents.

Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

SPEAKER:

Bruce Goldberg, MD is Senior Associate Director, Oregon Rural Practice Based Research Network at OHSU. He served as the Director of the Oregon Department of Human Services, then as founding director Oregon Health Authority where he supervised Oregon’s implementation of Coordinated Care Organizations.  Before coming to Oregon he was Director of Community Health Services for the US Public Health Services in Zuni, New Mexico.

 

Liz Powers, MD is Innovations Director and a full-scope Family Physician at Winding Waters Community Health Center in Enterprise, Oregon. She served on the American Academy of Family Physicians Commission on Rural Health. She is the Past President of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Academy of Family Physicians. She is currently on the steering committee of the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN) at OHSU.

MODERATOR: 

Serena Cruz is Executive Director of the Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation, which supports healthcare to Washington and Yamhill counties with a special emphasis on migrant and seasonal farm workers. Serena is a former Multnomah County commissioner. She earned her BA at Lewis & Clark College, her MPP at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and her JD at the University of California at Berkeley.