After statewide tour, Oregon Health Authority director outlines goals for improving state’s health care system
By Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM, Ore. KTVZ) -- Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi wants to improve Oregon’s health care system, including keeping rural hospitals open, supporting homeless people and testing children for lead poisoning.
This week, she released a report outlining 16 wide-ranging goals that stem from her meetings with health care leaders in more than a dozen cities across the state during a tour of Oregon during her first six months on the job.
Among her goals, Hathi wants to cut back bureaucracy for mental health and addiction treatment providers and ensure local public health agencies have adequate staff to test and treat Oregonians for sexually transmitted infections.
Community leaders pressed those issues and others in their meetings with Hathi in Astoria, Bend, The Dalles, Eugene, Hood River, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, Lebanon, Medford, Pendleton, Portland, Redmond and Salem.
Hathi’s report cites more than 60 issues community leaders would like addressed and 16 areas where state officials have started to tackle the needs. They include ways to make health more accessible and help providers as they serve Oregon’s most vulnerable people, including residents who face homelessness or mental health challenges.
“Many of these challenges are longstanding and complex, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make meaningful, if incremental, progress,” Dr. Hathi said in a statement. “The feedback we received from these communities is driving tangible steps forward at OHA to remove barriers and improve outcomes — and I’m grateful to both staff and our partners for helping us better serve all Oregonians.”
Hathi started her role as the authority’s director in January and is near the end of her first year on the job.
Here’s a look at some the goals:
In rural eastern Oregon, officials raised concerns about the closures of hospital and clinic services. In Baker City, Saint Alphonsus Medical Center closed its maternity ward, forcing parents to drive some 44 miles away for a delivery. The agency is researching state and federal policies and searching for ways to support health care facilities in rural areas more and reduce the risk of closures.
In southern Oregon, communities told Hathi they need more action so children are tested for lead exposure. In response, the Oregon Health Authority has started to work on a new rule to ensure that providers are reimbursed when they conduct lead testing for people on Medicaid, which provides health care to about 1.4 million low-income Oregonians.
The agency also wants to increase the rates of childhood blood lead screenings among youngsters enrolled in Medicaid and set that goal in its strategic plan.
In the Willamette Valley, local public health agencies said they need more funding to test for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. The health authority is working on strategies to make more funding available, including from federal dollars.
The health authority also wants to make it easier for doulas to be paid through Medicaid. Doulas provide non-medical support to pregnant women during and after a pregnancy. The health authority plans to seek funding to expand doula hubs in communities. Individual doulas would be able to join the hubs so they receive more administrative support as they navigate the Medicaid billing system.
The health authority has two more plans for Medicaid. The agency will provide health care providers with more guidance on how to bill Medicaid when they provide care for people who are homeless and living on the street. In 2023, federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made a new billing code available so providers could bill for outpatient services to houseless people.
The Oregon Health Authority has plans to support organizations and community health workers so they can be reimbursed by Medicaid. Community health care workers are on the front lines of health care, working to help patients access programs and services they need. They often use their backgrounds and experiences to relate to the people they serve and build trust.
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OHA news release:
OHA Launches Oregon Health Forward Mobilization to Eliminate Health Disparities; CDC Foundation Partners with State Health Officials on “Call to Action”
(Salem, Ore.) - Today, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) launched Oregon Health Forward (OHF), an alliance of three major efforts that will advance OHA’s goal to eliminate health inequities by 2030. These initiatives include: OHA’s Strategic Plan, a statewide Call to Action to advance health for all, and an organized effort to strengthen transparency, accountability and belonging within OHA.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said, “Oregon Health Forward advances my goals to ensure that the state is improving customer service and transparency across the enterprise. OHA has set a strategic goal to eliminate health inequities by 2030, and Oregon Health Forward is an invitation for others to join this effort. I thank Director Hathi for leading on this important work.”
A cornerstone of Oregon Health Forward is the statewide Call to Action -- OHA’s initiative to galvanize a “whole of society” commitment to its strategic goal by building new public-private partnerships and cross-sectoral investments in health equity, led in partnership with the CDC Foundation.
The CDC Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization that mobilizes philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the critical work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the nation's public health system.
The Call to Action recognizes that health inequities — such as a lack of health coverage, affordable housing, or clean air and water — often are borne of social, political, and economic forces outside the traditional purview of health policy. And that addressing these barriers requires, therefore, whole-of-society action to foster new partnerships and cross-sector investments in health equity. This is OHA’s Call to Action.
Over the next 6 months, the CDC Foundation and state health officials will enlist public and private partners of all sizes across all sectors to make commitments aligned with the five goal pillars of OHA’s Strategic Plan. Commitments may take the form of philanthropic contributions or in-kind support – such as staff expertise, resource-sharing, or education and training initiatives; new product development and service-line expansions; and programmatic initiatives or bold institutional policy change – changing the way care is provided or business is done.
“The CDC Foundation is proud to partner with the Oregon Health Authority to support its Call to Action. Oregon is leading the way in addressing disparities that lead to poorer health. The CDC Foundation looks forward to partnering with OHA to build public-private partnerships that drive progress toward the agency’s 2030 goal,” said Dr. Judy Monroe, M.D., president and CEO of the CDC Foundation.
Partner commitments will be recognized and elevated by OHA and the CDC Foundation and celebrated publicly by Fall 2025.
“When it comes to health, we’re all connected,” said Dr. Sejal Hathi, M.D., MBA, OHA Director, “and it is the responsibility of us all to come together and leverage our unique resources and strengths to provide opportunities for all to thrive. We’re excited to have the collaboration and support of the CDC Foundation in mobilizing a new statewide coalition of partners to expand access to care and eliminate unfair barriers to good health for everyone.”
More information about the Call to Action, including an interest form for entities to submit proposed commitments, is available here.
Oregon Health Forward features two other major efforts: OHA’s Strategic Plan (released in July) and a newly announced Transparency, Accountability, and Belonging Initiative (TABI), which will strengthen the agency’s ability to deliver on its goals consistently and transparently by intentionally improving operations and supporting staff.
The Transparency, Accountability, and Belonging Initiative includes nearly two dozen internal projects committing to actionable steps to better meet customer needs, increase transparency, strengthen partner relationships, and enhance staff engagement and satisfaction. Examples of projects include improving responsiveness to constituent inquiries, increasing the speed and transparency of funding disbursements, improving the accessibility and clarity of agency rulemaking, developing structured professional development opportunities for staff, and decreasing vacancy rates. Work for the TABI is expected to be complete by Fall 2025.
“Since day one, my highest priority has been to listen and learn so that I can guide the agency in designing the best solutions to shared challenges,” said Dr. Sejal Hathi, MD, MBA. “Oregon Health Forward was born from this dialogue – with staff and with the broader communities we serve – about where and how we could work differently and better to achieve our common goal of an Oregon where every individual has the opportunity to live a healthy life.”
Visit the OHF website to learn more about all three Oregon Health Forward initiatives: the OHA Strategic Plan, Call to Action, and all Transparency, Accountability, and Belonging projects.
