|
I always enjoy taking the opportunity that Thanksgiving offers to look back over the past year and consider all of the things we have to be thankful for.
I am grateful for all the progress that we have made toward achieving our goal of better health and better care at lower costs for all Oregonians. We have coordinated care organizations in place to serve about 90 percent of Oregon Health Plan members. And though we are just beginning, we already have many stories from people with complex health care needs who are staying healthier and avoiding expensive hospital and emergency room visits because of coordinated care.
Oregon is one of the country's leaders in reducing the number of people who don't have health insurance. We are making progress toward reducing health disparities in the state and improving access to primary care. We are making progress on better integrating behavioral and physical health care. For those in need of behavioral health services we are making progress on increasing the availability of high quality community-based addictions and mental health services and we are emphasizing early intervention, independence, resilience and recovery.
Of course, where we live, work, play and learn matters to our health and through so many of your efforts we working in those arenas to improve the lifelong health of all people in Oregon.
I remain abundantly thankful for the hard work you do daily to help us fulfill our mission of a healthier Oregon.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend.
|
