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Last week Governor Kitzhaber released his proposed budget for 2013-2015 to state lawmakers. The 2013 Legislature, which convenes in February, will use it as a starting place for their budget. If you missed last week's webinar, you can find more detail about the OHA portion of the Governor's budget here.
Meanwhile, on Monday we will present our current budget to the legislative Emergency Board as part of our required "Rebalance Report." I am pleased to say that our budget is balanced. This is a testament to the great work you and our community partners do every day to improve health, while at the same time being good stewards of resources and operating efficiently.
Here you will find a letter to the Legislature with more detail. To summarize, after years of economic turbulence, OHA has managed its budget effectively. Across the agency, we continue to implement cost-cutting strategies, including adopting Lean processes to help us deliver quality services within our allocated budget.
However, our nation's and our state's fiscal realities mean we will continue to be challenged. While the fiscal climate is showing signs of recovery, the economy-driven caseload in many of our programs has a major impact on costs in the OHA budget. Our ability to maintain balance is at risk due to many factors, including changes in federal policy and changes in the state's overall employment rate.
I want to commend everyone who works to cut unnecessary expenditures and prioritize resources for our clients, patients, and the public we serve. Thank you for all you do.
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