"Brown AWOL on veterans issues"

Thatcher adviser, combat veteran Justin Brecht speaks out on Brown snubbing Medal of Honor recipient Leroy Petry
 

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BACKGROUND

Recently, The Portland Mercury reported on Oregon's unmet need for inpatient psychiatric beds and its perpetuated problems with patient boarding.

The 300,000 veterans living in Oregon, and their families, are being used as pawns by bureaucrats, Republicans say. Nearly 30,000 of the veterans in Oregon fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. Hundreds are homeless, and while veterans make up 8.7 percent of Oregon's population, they account for over 20 percent of suicides. Nearly one in four active duty members show signs of a mental health condition. Twenty percent of veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress and/or depression and 50 percent of post-traumatic stress is not treated.

The highly unpopular Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has been under fire for holding hostages and collecting ransom payments from providers, by lawmakers and veterans, with some questioning how many veterans have to die before Oregon will act. 

The application fee alone for a facility going through the "certificate of need" process is tens of thousands of dollars. For a $1.5 million facility that fee nears $35,000. And for a larger facility it could be more than $70,000. In addition to the application fee, though, a facility must own the property where it will build the new psychiatric unit, hire architects and others to complete the application and then go through an often years-long certificate process.

"The passage of SB 1054 would help provide a variety of needed mental health services. The bill will help service members, like myself, make a full and meaningful recovery. As this bill moves through the Oregon Legislature, I encourage our elected officials to vote yes to allow new facilities to add to Oregon's supply of mental health services," wrote Kyle Shields in The Lund Report.

Despite the clear need, the facts, the advocates and the providers, and the passage of SB 1054 out of the Senate Veterans Committee, the bill has not yet been brought to the Floor for a vote.

 

For follow-up commentary please contact Senate Republican Communications Director Jonathan Lockwood at 971-645-2140, or Jonathan.Lockwood@OregonLegislature.gov.