Florida State knows how to win Ducks face tough opponent in Rose Bowl — SEE SPORTS, B1 PortlandTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPERTribune • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY ANALYSIS Blue-r ibbon panel outlines utility reforms Calls for new water, sewer “ W ild” author board, more transparency may Cheryl Strayed glammed it up not carry much political weight with star Reese W itherspoon on By STEVE LAW the red carpet The Tribune during the fi lm’ s Portland The high-level B lue Ri bbon Commission premiere at on Portland Utility O versight submitted its Cinema 2 1 on fi nal recommendations Monday, and chair- Monday. man Dw ight H olton says they’ ll bring a TRIBUNE PHOTOS: “d ramatic departure from the current sys- JONATHAN HOUSE tem of oversight and review” of the city’ s oft-maligned water and sewer bureaus. But the commission’s proposed new Port- land Utility Board will only be effective if city commissioners heed its ideas, as city Commis- sioner Nick Fish acknowledges. That’s because the proposed reforms amount to tinkering with the current system, as opposed to the more ro- bust structural reforms advocated in recent years by the Portland City Club, the Portland Business Alliance, the city Charter Review Commission, and big water customers. “This continues to be a group that observes ild the process, but really doesn’t have a big voice in the process,” said Lori Irish Bauman, who penned this spring’s City Club report on utility night in Portland reforms. The city needs something that “takes politics out of the process,” Bauman said. “We aren’t sure that this goes the full distance.” “ W e aren’ t The Water Bureau and Bu- sure that reau of Environmental Services this goes Red carpet rolls out at Cinema 21 have been rocked by a series of scandals involving cost over- the full runs and diversions of ratepay- W Portland Mayor distance.” er money to projects unrelated Witherspoon, Strayed — Lori Irish Charlie Hales to water and sewer services. and his wife, Critics, charging that city com- Bauman, author of City Club attend Portland’s Nancy Hales, missioners were using ratepay- show off their er money as a “piggy bank” for report on utility appropriately- nonutility projects, qualifi ed a reforms ‘Wild’ premiere themed footwear May ballot initiative that would j ust before have handed control of the two bureaus to an independently elected board. By JENNIFER ANDERSON stepping onto In the heat of the campaign, Mayor Charlie The Tribune the red carpet Hales and Fish, who oversees the two bureaus, at the Portland promised if voters rejected the measure, they doring fans gawking from premiere of would empanel a “blue ribbon commission” to across the street? Check. “ W ild.” advance serious reforms. Media gaggle on the red Voters thumped the ballot measure by a 3-to- Acarpet? Check. 1 margin. Hiking boots worn by Portland’s ever- fashionable mayor and fi rst lady? One committee instead of three Check. The main recommendation is to replace the Monday’s red-carpet event and Port- Portland Utility Review Board and water and land premiere of the much-anticipated sewer budget committees with the new board. “Wild” movie was a little bit of Holly- and Rolling Stone — were genuinely Just as star-struck as the city is over The Portland Utility Board would work year- wood, a lot of Portland. thrilled to be there, since the words the movie — and its potential to put round and be assigned two budget analysts. While the Cinema 21 premiere on Portland and red carpet aren’t often ut- Portland and Oregon on the map for Currently, the two budget committees disband busy Northwest 21st Avenue caused tered in the same sentence. other major motion pictures — the peo- once they make budget recommendations, and quite a spectacle, fans were oh-so-cour- “We should have a drinking game ple behind “Wild” are gaga over us, too. the City Council often ignores them. All three teous and didn’t disrupt traffi c. where if anyone we think is Reese With- “A lot of people around the country panels consult with city budget analysts, but The mostly local reporters and fi lm erspoon comes in, we drink,” one of the don’t realize what Portland has to offer,” don’t have their own dedicated staff. critics — as well as a presence by The servers at a nearby bar was overheard Seattle Times, Entertainment Tonight saying. See W ILD / Page 3 See REFORM / Page 2 Sharing is caring? Not for medical records of N atural Medicine in South- cally, according to experts, they Problems plague west Portland sent a patient to may have been too early. Or, now a local hospital emergency de- it’s too late. system linking partment with what appeared “It’s like the Ebola thing,” says to be a blood clot in her lung. Dr. William Hersh, chairman of health providers Later that day the naturopath the Oregon Health & Science — the primary care provider — University department of medi- By PETER KORN wanted to make sure that her cal informatics. Hersh is refer- The Tribune patient had been taken care of ring to the fi rst U.S. Ebola victim, and the necessary CAT scan had whose Dallas physicians appar- R ecently, a naturopathic been performed — and she want- ently did not see a nurse’s note in doctor at the N ational College ed whatever had been done at his electronic records saying he the hospital to become part of the Dr. Regina Dehen had been in Africa. “There’s a lot patient’s permanent fi le. of the National of blame to go around.” The hospital and the naturo- College of Study after study has shown pathic college both use the same Natural Medicine that seamless sharing of medi- cal records between health electronic medical records sys- works on her tem. And yet, according to Regi- care providers would keep pa- computer during na Dehen, chief medical offi cer tients healthier. Emergency a busy weekday at the naturopathic college, doctors treating a patient at there was no way to electroni- morning. one hospital, for instance, could cally get the patient’s records TRIBUNE PHOTO: know what drugs an uncon- from the hospital to her primary JONATHAN HOUSE scious patient regularly takes, care provider. Portland’s hospitals. The patient care leaders came together to resentatives of hospitals, health and thus avoid giving another Last week, Dehen had a new arrived at her appointment with ensure that all electronic patient insurers, physicians and patient medication that might cause a patient referred to her by a local Dehen carrying 300 pages of records would be instantaneous- advocates. They were hoping to dangerous reaction. pain management physician who chart notes. ly available to all health care pro- develop a unifying record-shar- There are additional reasons was quitting his practice. That None of this was supposed to viders through a regionwide ing system before each institu- beyond better patient care to doctor kept his patient’s records happen. Eight years ago, when health information exchange. tion installed and modified its implement a record-sharing electronically, but had a different hospitals and doctors were be- The Health Data Exchange own in-house system in ways system. The exchange group system than the one in use at the ginning to implement electronic Group, formed by the Oregon that would make them incompat- naturopathic college and most of recordkeeping, Portland health Business Council, included rep- ible with everyone else’s. Ironi- See RECORDS / Page 7 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that refl ects the WRITER SURVIVED L.A. stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE LIFE, PAGE B1 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, December 11, 2014 Reform: Elected leaders must set rates, spending ANALYSIS ■ From page 1 Holton hasn’ t felt “Anyone in city government will tell you that’s the most im- portant innovation,” Holton any pressure said. The commission also pro- By STEVE LAW emailed the mayor’s policy posed the new board have the The Tribune director Jackie Dingfelder. power to hold public hearings “You need to have a sit down and to meet face-to-face with City Commissioner with City Club and get this the mayor before the fi nal bud- Nick Fish says he and the permanently pulled (from get is set. mayor appointed a high- the City Council agenda). “We’re proposing interject- level blue ribbon commis- What they are now doing is ing the oversight board in the sion and gave members coming with a totally irrele- budget process in very signifi - freedom to call it as they vant proposal at the same cant ways in the beginning, in see it when it comes to re- time we are taking the Blue the middle and the end,” forming oversight of the Ribbon Commission propos- Holton said. city’s embattled utilities. al out for public comment.” Commissioner Dan But emails obtained in a When the City Club had a Saltzman is skeptical the pan- public records request sug- confl ict and tried to resched- el’s report will bring signifi- gest the commissioner’s ule the Sept. 17 council ap- cant reform. staff helped shepherd the pearance, Blackwood left a “I keep asking myself what’s process — and sought to voice mail saying the club’s the biggest game-changer in minimize the influence of presentation wouldn’t be re- your recommendations,” the Portland City Club, scheduled, Wallinger said.