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The public psychiatry programs in Oregon and Colorado, sharing common roots, demonstrate ways such programs can be developed to meet different local needs and conditions.
Public psychiatry training in Oregon traces its roots to the community mental health movement of the 1960s and now includes a focus on training in the community and in state hospitals.
Because of limited resources, the health care industry has been forced to choose how funds are spent. Public fee-for-service systems have begun to face the hard choices inherent in managed care. The Oregon Health Plan was designed to provide a rational approach to addressing these changes directly.
The Oregon Health Plan could not have developed into its current form without strong leadership. Criticism, which has shifted from the political left to the right, has been a constant companion, making integration of mental health services more precarious.
Public mental health has long struggled to be accepted as a part of health care. Its interface with social services and its broad spectrum of professionals make a clear definition of public mental health's boundaries difficult, fueling policymakers' skepticism about such acceptance. The Oregon Health Plan was the result of a process that explicitly included mental health but recognized that the tools for doing so need to be carefully developed.
What has not been addressed is how Oregon will maintain and expand the early breakthrough of the statewide consensus dialogue that created the "list" of prioritized medical conditions.
The problem of attrition from mental health care programs before such services begin is poorly understood. The present research has identified several variables which predict first appointment cancellations for Oregon involuntary commitment petitioners in behalf of potential clients. The value of such variables is discussed in terms of petitioner attrition from involuntary commitment programs, mental health needs of those petitioning for the involuntary commitment of "allegedly mentally ill" persons, increased mental health program efficiency, and economic benefits for underbudgeted and understaffed mental health care programs. Recommendations to improve community mental health programs in general, and involuntary commitment programs in particular are presented.
Mercury concentrations in lateral muscle tissue from rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) stocked in a mercury contaminated eastern Oregon reservoir increased linearly during the first five months that the fish were in the reservoir, followed by a leveling off period during which the mercury uptake curve became nearly asymptotic after eight months. In addition, the mean mercury concentrations present in three year classes of trout which had lived in the reservior for 7, 19, and 31 months, respectively, were not significantly different, indicating that the uptake curve remains nearly asymptotic indefinitely. The shape of the curve is believed to be a result of exchange equilibria between water and tissue and factors that influence fish metabolism. It is estimated that 0.05 microgram Hg/L of methylmercury in water would have accounted for all of the methylmercury accumulated by trout in the reservoir. Growth rates (mg/g per day) of trout in the reservoir ranged from 0.7 in December to 39.7 in April, resulting in food consumption rate estimates ranging from 25 to 140 mg/g per day.
The authors describe the ethical considerations underlying the inclusion of mental health services into a prioritized health care system. The Oregon Health Plan is a process for defining and delivering basic health services to an entire state. As the plan was developed, the mental health community needed to decide whether or not to participate in the process and, if so, how. Lengthy discussions among mental health consumers, family members, and providers led to a strategy that emphasized the integration of mental health and chemical dependency services into a comprehensive and universal health care program. This approach appears to have achieved relative parity for mental health.
Twenty-five PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), 15 organochlorine (OC) pesticides, and mercury were determined in fish from the Willamette River in Oregon, including a Portland Harbor superfund site. Fish were collected during the summer of 2000 along a 20-mile stretch of the lower Willamette River. Concentrations of sumPCBs (sum of 25 individually determined PCB congeners) and sumDDTs (sum of p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, and p,p'-DDD) in fish ranged from 14 to 530 and from 18 to 510 ng/g-wet weight, respectively. SumPCBs concentrations at all sites exceeded US EPA fish advisory's screening values. Hexachlorobiphenyl congener 153 was the most abundant of the PCBs detected and p,p'-DDE was the most abundant OC pesticide detected. Low levels of dieldrin were detected in fish at all sites with the highest concentration at the superfund site (4.6 ng/g-wet weight), while other OC pesticides tested were near or below detection limits (approximately 2 ng/g). In general, organic chemical contaminant concentrations were highest in fish from the superfund site and were lower further upriver. Smallmouth bass had the highest levels of OC compounds of three fish species examined. They also had the largest site-to-site variations whereas black crappie had little variation throughout the study area. Mercury levels in fish ranged from 13 to 520 ng/g. Historical fish residue data are limited from the Portland Harbor superfund site, what data is available is over a decade old, generally consisted of only a few fish (< or = 3) and analyses quantified only a few PCB congeners (< 3).
Mercury pollution was compared in two Oregon reservoirs of similar size and age, located within the same ecoregion. Cottage Grove Reservoir was distinguished by a history of mercury mining and processing within its watershed, while Dorena Reservoir was not. Mercury concentrations in sediments of the reservoirs, tributary streams, and three species of fish were measured. Sediment mercury concentrations in the main tributary of Cottage Grove Reservoir, which drains the subbasin where past mercury mining occurred, was tenfold higher than mercury in sediments from other reservoir tributaries. There were no significant differences between sediment mercury concentrations in the tributaries of Dorena Reservoir. The average mercury concentration in the basin sediment of Cottage Grove Reservoir (0.67 +/- 0.05 microg/g dry wt) was higher than for Dorena Reservoir (0.12 +/- 0.01 microg/g dry wt). At Cottage Grove Reservoir, maximum mercury concentrations were near or exceeded 1 microg/g wet wt for largemouth bass (Micropterus salmonides) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) epaxial muscle. Muscle mercury concentrations in largemouth bass and crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) from Cottage Grove Reservoir were significantly higher than from the same species from Dorena Reservoir. Numbers of bluegill of the same age available from both reservoirs were too small for statistical comparisons. Mercury concentrations in largemouth bass muscle fluctuated annually in both reservoirs. Fish ages were consistently positively correlated with muscle mercury concentrations in only the point-source-impacted reservoir. These results indicated that a point source, Black Butte Mine, contributed amounts of mercury greatly in excess of mobilization from natural deposits, atmospheric deposition, and small-scale uses of the metal as an amalgamating agent in gold mining.
Mercury contamination in fish has lead to the issuance of fish consumption advisories in many water bodies of the United States. There is evidence that mercury concentrations may fluctuate seasonally, which could affect consumption advisories. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were collected from Dorena Reservoir, Oregon, in spring and summer of 1995 and spring, summer, and fall of 1996. Samples of muscle, liver, and gonad were analyzed for total mercury. There were seasonal differences for mercury in liver and gonads, but not muscle tissue. Liver mercury concentrations were higher in summer and lower in spring whereas ovarian mercury concentrations were higher in fall and lower in spring. This study shows that liver tissue was more sensitive than muscle tissue to seasonal variability of mercury, but these seasonal fluctuations may not influence consumption advisories.
Despite the critical position of nitrification in N cycling in coniferous forest soils of western North America, little information exists on the composition of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in these soils, or their response to treatments that promote or reduce nitrification. To this end, an experiment was conducted in which a set of soil cores was reciprocally transplanted between adjacent forest (low nitrification potential) and meadow (high nitrification potential) environments, at two high-elevation (approximately 1500 m) sites in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest located in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Half of the cores were placed in screened PVC pipe (closed) to prevent new root colonization, large litter debris inputs, and animal disturbance; the other cores were placed in open mesh bags. A duplicate set of open and closed soil cores was not transferred between sites and was incubated in place. Over the 2-year experiment, net nitrification increased in both open and closed cores transferred from forest to meadow, and to a lesser extent in cores remaining in the forest. In three of four forest soil treatments, net nitrification increases were accompanied by increases in nitrification potential rates (NPR) and 10- to 100-fold increases in AOB populations. In open cores remaining in the forests, however, increases in net nitrification were not accompanied by significant increases in either NPR or AOB populations. Although some meadow soil treatments reduced both net nitrification and nitrification potential rates, significant changes were not detected in most probable number (MPN)-based estimates of AOB population densities. Terminal restriction fragment profiles (T-RFs) of a PCR-amplified 491-bp fragment of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A gene (amoA) changed significantly in response to some soil treatments, and treatment effects differed among locations and between years. A T-RF previously shown to be a specific biomarker of Nitrosospira cluster 4 (Alu390) was widespread and dominant in the majority of soil samples. Despite some treatments causing substantial increases in AOB population densities and nitrification potential rates, nitrosomonads remained undetectable, and the nitrosospirad AOB community composition did not change radically following treatment.
Lithology is one of many factors influencing the amount, grain size distribution, and location of fine sediment deposition on the bed of mountain stream channels. In the Oregon Coast Range, 18 pool-riffle stream reaches with similar slope and intact riparian area and relatively unaffected by logjams were surveyed for assessment of fine sediment deposition. Half of the streams were in watersheds underlain by relatively erodible sandstone. The other half were underlain by a more resistant basalt. Channel morphology, hydraulic variables, particle size, relative pool volume of fine sediment (V*), and wood characteristics were measured in the streams. A significantly higher amount of fine sediment was deposited in the sandstone channels than in the basalt channels, as indicated by V*. Grab samples of sediment from pools also were significantly finer grained in the sandstone channels. Geographic information systems (GIS) software was used to derive several variables that might correlate with fine sediment deposition. These variables were combined with those derived from field data to create multiple linear regression models to be used for further exploration of the type and relative influence of factors affecting fine sediment deposition. Lithology appeared to be significant in some of these models, but usually was not the primary driver. The results from these models indicate that V* at the reach scale is best explained by stream power per unit area and by the volume of wood perpendicular to the flow per channel area (R(2) = 0.46). Findings show that V* is best explained using only watershed scale variables, including negative correlations with relief ratio and basin precipitation index, and positive correlations with maximum slope and circularity.
Post-fire Pezizales fruit commonly in many forest types after fire. The objectives of this study were to determine which Pezizales appeared as sporocarps after a prescribed fire in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, and whether species of Pezizales formed mycorrhizas on ponderosa pine, whether or not they were detected from sporocarps. Forty-two sporocarp collections in five genera (Anthracobia, Morchella, Peziza, Scutellinia, Tricharina) of post-fire Pezizales produced ten restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) types. We found no root tips colonized by species of post-fire Pezizales fruiting at our site. However, 15% (6/39) of the RFLP types obtained from mycorrhizal roots within 32 soil cores were ascomycetes. Phylogenetic analyses of the 18S nuclear ribosomal DNA gene indicated that four of the six RFLP types clustered with two genera of the Pezizales, Wilcoxina and Geopora. Subsequent analyses indicated that two of these mycobionts were probably Wilcoxina rehmii, one Geopora cooperi, and one Geopora sp. The identities of two types were not successfully determined with PCR-based methods. Results contribute knowledge about the above- and below-ground ascomycete community in a ponderosa pine forest after a low intensity fire.
The Oregon Medicaid program legislatively separates the administration of physical health and mental health services, even though behavioral and physical health conditions significantly impact each other. To overcome this barrier and enhance integrated care, CareOregon, a large Medicaid only health plan partnered with two of its largest provider groups to pilot two different models of integration. In one, an "ownership" model, behavioral health specialists were employed by Federally Qualified Health Center primary care clinics and functioned in a common care model with other providers. In the other, a "loaned" model, behavioral specialists were placed in primary care clinics by community mental health centers and continued to function in a specialty mental health model. The qualitative effects of these two models are discussed.
Nonnative plants have tremendous ecological and economic impacts on plant communities globally, but comprehensive data on the distribution and ecological relationships of individual species is often scarce or nonexistent. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of vegetation type, climate, topography, and management history on the distribution and abundance of eight selected nonnative plant taxa in forests in western Oregon. These eight taxa were selected as being reliably detected by a multi-resource inventory of 1127 systematically-placed plots on non-federal forest lands from 1995 to 1997 by the USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. One or more of the eight nonnative taxa studied were found on 20% of the sampled subplots in the study area, but relatively few stands were dominated by them. Overall abundance of nonnative taxa was likely much greater, because few composites and graminoids were identified to species in this general-purpose inventory. Distribution of most taxa was more closely associated with low density of overstory trees than with climate. Nonnative taxa were significantly more abundant in stands that had been recently clearcut or thinned than in stands that had not. Frequencies of several taxa decreased with elevation, which may reflect proximity to source populations and intensive land use rather than any climatic constraints. Although the greatest potential for displacement of native forest species appears to be in early-successional communities, the potential for spread of some shade-tolerant evergreen shrubs also seems high.
This paper reports the results from an evaluation of the first statewide mandated training for alcohol servers. The state of Oregon introduced training for all alcohol servers (and for one year all owners/managers) beginning in December 1986. Servers must complete training once over a five-year cycle; by December 1989, over 50% of servers and managers had been trained. We found statistically significant reductions in single-vehicle nighttime traffic crashes (those with high percentage of alcohol involvement) by the end of 1989 following the implementation of the compulsory server-training policy.