By Carmen Rubio, Latino Network Last year, Latino Network’s board of directors and staff chose to support water fluoridation because we see it as a basic public health service and a social justice issue. Nearly 100 percent of the families we work with live in poverty. Access to basic human services such as dental [...]
By Lillian Shirley, BSN, MPH, MPA, Multnomah County Health Department Director If you’ve ever had influenza, you know that it comes on fast and it hits hard. It brings fever, chills, body aches, a sore throat, and a cough that last several days. It keeps you from being able to work, go to school, [...]
Active Latino parents make the difference By Lillian Shirley, BSN, MPH, MPA, Multnomah County Health Department Director As Margarita Aguilar walks down the hall at César Chávez School in North Portland, the students and teachers lining up for lunch greet her. Some offer high fives. She stops to give a quick hug and a [...]
By Chris Thomas, Oregon News Service Portland, OR — 2012 was a year of milestones for Oregon’s Health CO-OP, the nonprofit organization formed as an alternative to traditional insurers as part of the Affordable Care Act. Last month, the state received the federal approval it needs for Cover Oregon, the new health insurance exchange that [...]
By Julie Cortez, El Hispanic News Portland, OR — Recognizing there is strength in diversity as well as numbers, groups representing various communities of color and immigrants have come together to form the Oregon Health Equity Alliance (OHEA). “We’re here from our many different communities because we’re entering a very different era in health [...]
Overuse of the powerful drugs is leading to illnesses that are harder and more complicated to treat By Lillian Shirley, RN, MPH, MPA, Multnomah County Health Department Director Your body is aching. Your nose is red and sore from the giant box of tissue that you have used in just the last [...]
By Julie Cortez, El Hispanic News Portland, OR — National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) coincides with the final day of Hispanic Heritage Month — Oct. 15 — and this year’s theme is “Hispanics United to End AIDS. Get Tested for HIV.” Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) will mark the occasion a little early this [...]
By Erin Rook, El Hispanic News Portland, OR — Woodburn residents are still reeling from the Aug. 13 arrest of Rev. Ángel Armando Pérez, the priest at St. Luke Catholic Cathedral. Many are wondering how someone so trusted and respected could commit the crime he is accused of — chasing a 12-year-old boy down the [...]
By Richard Jones, El Hispanic News Cornelius, OR — On the west side of Cornelius a substantial new building is in the final weeks of construction. The new Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center will offer a wider option of services under one enormous roof. This health center is the culmination of 37 years of [...]
By Lillian Shirley, RN, MPH, MPA, Multnomah County Health Department Director It seems like summer just arrived here in Oregon, yet another school year is right around the corner. As summer winds down and families make back-to-school plans, the Multnomah County Health Department and other community organizations are gearing up to support children, [...]
