Oregon Hospitals Didn t Have Shortages. So Why Were Disabled People Denied Care?
at 12:21 pm NPR
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a small group of disability rights advocates found itself in a race against time to save the life of a woman with an intellectual disability.
The woman was taken to the hospital with COVID-19. But the hospital, in a small Oregon town, denied the ventilator she needed. Instead, a doctor, citing her low quality of life, wanted her to sign a legal form to allow the hospital to deny her care.
Out of that quiet fight in early spring, the advocates â staff at a disability rights legal group, a state lawmaker and a few others â discovered something disturbing: There were many cases in Oregon of health care being rationed to people with disabilities.
Oregon Hospitals Didn t Have Shortages. So Why Were Disabled People Denied Care?
Masks hang from an IV pole at a hospital.
Jenny Kane / AP
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a small group of disability rights advocates found itself in a race against time to save the life of a woman with an intellectual disability.
The woman was taken to the hospital with COVID-19. But the hospital, in a small Oregon town, denied the ventilator she needed. Instead, a doctor, citing her low quality of life, wanted her to sign a legal form to allow the hospital to deny her care.
Masks hang from an IV pole at a hospital. Jenny Kane/AP
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a small group of disability rights advocates found itself in a race against time to save the life of a woman with an intellectual disability.
The woman was taken to the hospital with COVID-19. But the hospital, in a small Oregon town, denied the ventilator she needed. Instead, a doctor, citing her low quality of life, wanted her to sign a legal form to allow the hospital to deny her care.
Out of that quiet fight in early spring, the advocates staff at a disability rights legal group, a state lawmaker and a few others discovered something disturbing: There were many cases in Oregon of health care being rationed to people with disabilities.
COVID-19 vaccines are in Oregon and more are on the way. What you need to know: Q&A
Updated Dec 19, 2020;
Posted Dec 18, 2020
Jessica Daniels, immunization program coordinator for Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, first-bumps Kelley Callais after Callais administered her COVID-19 vaccination shot on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian)Dave Killen
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The arrival of the first COVID-19 vaccines in Oregon this week offers good reason to celebrate.
It appears this is the very beginning of the end of the pandemic. But there’s still so much hard work left to be done on the long road ahead.
There will be public education campaigns meant to address the worries of Oregonians reluctant to get vaccinated. There are scientific questions about how long immunity after vaccinations will last. And there are important decisions to be made about who will be vaccinated after healthcare workers and long-term care residents.
First doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrive in Oregon; State kicks off massive immunization campaign as health facilities receive new vaccine argusobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from argusobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.