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March 13, 2024
Media contact: Cassie Call, cassie.call@oha.oregon.gov, 503-351-2416
OHA Director visits Willamette Valley as part of regional tours
(Salem, OR) Today, the director of Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Sejal Hathi, MD, MBA, completed a three-day visit to counties in the Willamette Valley to learn firsthand from local leaders, providers and advocates about the challenges facing people in the area.
In this visit, Dr. Hathi met with local public health and mental health officials, non-profit partners, and healthcare providers from the counties of Benton, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, and Yamhill. This is the third of seven regional visits Dr. Hathi is conducting after stepping into the OHA director role.
“The people I’ve met over the past couple of days – from providers to housing support specialists – have reaffirmed for me that you don’t have to be in a clinic to provide care,” said Dr. Hathi. “Care is community and it’s about how we take care of the whole person that will dictate their well-being and their ability to achieve their full potential.”
[Here is a link to the video of what Dr. Hathi said she observed during her visit to the Willamette Valley]
Dr. Hathi ended her time in Lebanon (Linn County) with a tour of Colonia Paz, an affordable housing complex. Colonia Paz follows a developmental model of community-built housing, offering multi-bilingual supportive services in the areas of health, education, and employment. OHA’s Community Partner Outreach Program partners with Colonia Paz through the Healthier Oregon Program, which helps individuals and families to navigate health care services and enroll in the Oregon Health Plan.
Dr. Hathi will spend the next several months visiting all major regions in Oregon – spending time with community leaders, health care providers, Tribal leaders, local public health and mental health officials, and non-profit partners about their biggest needs from the state and the state health agency – to ensure those are represented and addressed as she shapes the agency’s next chapter.
[Here is a link] to B-roll footage, an audio file and still pictures from Dr. Hathi's most recent trip.
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