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October 30, 2015 OHA Director's messages on the web
To: All OHA employees
From: Lynne Saxton, Director

Healing in difficult times

To the OHA team:

  Remembering Umqua...
 

PSOB workers have an opportunity to share healing thoughts with the Roseburg community.

Earlier this month, our state experienced a tragedy in Roseburg that was shocking and devastating. Weeks later, we are still recovering.

On Oct. 21, I was honored to attend an Umpqua Community College (UCC) tribute service that was moving and inspiring. We stood on the banks of the Umpqua River and heard stories of the nine people from their friends and family. We experienced an overwhelming sense of loss and a renewed commitment to help support the community with all of our best effort every day in the coming year. It was an honor to be able to join the community and our friends for a remarkable tribute to these students and their professor.

  Behavior Health Professionals
 

Immediately after the UCC shooting, a federal team of behavioral health professionals rushed to Roseburg to help the community.

Healing is such an important part of health. We were fortunate to have had the capacity to aid healing in the Roseburg community after the tragedy. Through our relationship with Health and Human Services Region X, we arranged for a team of behavioral health professionals from across the country to arrive hours after the tragedy and facilitate crucial access to mental health care. On an almost daily basis, community members said the team “was the single most effective resource” in this critical and difficult time.

Here at home, we need to deal with the events in Roseburg personally. Dr. Bruce Austin, OHA’s dental director, has a profound perspective: “I grew up in Roseburg, have worked on the ranches all around UCC, and worked at UCC. I was also on a rifle team at a range a mile from UCC, so I understand some of the issues in Roseburg. My niece is a first-term freshman at UCC, and she was barricaded in a room close to the shooting for quite a while, and she was terrified. One of her close friends was killed and another was injured. This type of thing always affects me, as it does everyone, but to have it happen in my hometown is even more disturbing, for lack of a stronger word. Who would’ve thought I’d hear my president describing this in my hometown? And every town is someone’s hometown.”

As employees of the Oregon Health Authority, we are sensitive to the plight of others, especially when it hits so close to home. Public Health staff at the Portland State Office Building provided an opportunity for people to write healing words to share with people in Roseburg. And I know we’ve all sent positive thoughts their way. Every day, we have an opportunity to support better health in Oregon. Through tragedy, we can strengthen our commitment to our communities and our work.

Thank you,
Lynne


To your health: Don’t forget we have just a few hours left for our Public Employees Benefit Board (PEBB) open enrollment for health benefits, which ends Saturday, Oct. 31. More than 80 percent of PEBB members and partners/spouses enroll in the Health Engagement Model (HEM), and agree to engage in two health actions in the next year, which results in pay incentive. If you haven’t already, log into your PEBB account, select your health care benefits and learn how you can meet your health goals in the coming year.

OHA on the web