July 22, 2011 OHA Director's messages on the web
To: All OHA employees
From: Bruce Goldberg, M.D., Director

You're invited

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don't give up." ~Anne Lamott

Next week Oregon State Hospital will be opening the doors of its newest section to the public. Hospital patients’ family members, stakeholders, community members, and OHA and DHS staff are invited to tour the hospital's new patient living and treatment wing called Trails.

Trails is made up of nine units on three floors in three wings with the capacity to serve up to 234 patients. It will house the community rehabilitation program of the new Oregon State Hospital. This is the second section of the new hospital to open – earlier this year the new Harbors wing opened and patients have been living there since January. We continue to be on track with this project; completion of the final phase of the hospital is scheduled for end of 2011 with the last group of patients moving in early 2012.

The new building is just one aspect of the hospital's extensive transformation from the inside out as we forge ahead in our efforts to improve the care and treatment of our patients. Together with a new focus on evidence-based, patient-centered treatment, we are creating a welcoming place that supports healing, recovery and a return to successful community living.

This open house event epitomizes, I believe, the culture change happening at the hospital. Patients and staff are part of the community – our friends, family members and neighbors. The work at OSH should be part of the community conversation, not shunted off in shadows and secrecy. Unfortunately, for too many people their only image of mental illness is what they see in movies or TV and that contributes to the stigma we all fight against.

I hope you will take the opportunity to visit the hospital next week. There are two self-guided tours, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. You can find more information on the state hospital’s website.

I also want to take a moment to congratulate Linda Hammond, administrator for the Hospital Replacement Project, Hospital Superintendent Greg Roberts, and everyone who works at the state hospital. This is another milestone achievement and another step toward the future of improved mental health care in our state

OHA on the web