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Port of Coos Bay project awarded $25M grant BY BRANDON SUMMERS The World

Coos Bay leaders gathered at the North Spit on Thursday, Oct. 17, to celebrate news that Oregon International Port of Coos Bay’s Paciﬁc Coast Intermodal Port project has been awarded a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. “This is a very signiﬁcant development in a truly transformative project,” said Matt Friesen, Port of Coos Bay Director of External Affairs. “We believe this marks a pivotal moment for a very unique opportunity to enhance supply chain resilience, lessen global greenhouse gas emissions, while creating thousands of careertrack professions in the region.” PCIP has enjoyed the

support of the community, state legislature and the governor’s office, along with many other entities and partners, said Friesen. “While we’ve had tremendous federal support from our congressional delegation and the federal agencies, as well, this is really significant because it’s the first federal investment in this project,” he said. U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, who serves on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and House Committee on Natural Resources, celebrated the grant being awarded to the project. “This grant will allow the Port of Coos Bay to do permitting and engineering and planning. This is a planning grant,” she said. “And this is just the beginning

Please see GRANT Page 3

Tribal Coos Bay Public Library Sci- communities can cover Fi podcast wraps fourth season traditional

BY BRANDON SUMMERS

health care practices through the Oregon Health Plan

The World

Swords & Starships, the sci-fi and fantasy themed podcast of Coos Bay Public Library, has just wrapped its fourth season. For the roughly hour-long shows, Librarian Brittney Buxton and Librarian Assistant Joshua Whitty talk about sci-fi and fantasy and “a little bit of everything else.” “Mostly we review genre fiction books,” said Whitty. “We also do movie reviews.” The two started the podcast in 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic. “We needed to find programs to still interact with people, but do it in a safe way,” said Buxton. At the time, CBPL was closed Please see PODCAST Page 3

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Bandon hospital purchases property for major expansion Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center in Bandon is expanding. BY BRANDON SUMMERS The World

SCHHC’s board in September approved the purchase of property at 930 Second Street in Bandon for $500,000. “Our hospital, which is a 21-bed critical access hospital, is bursting at the seams,” CEO Raymond Hino told The World. “We saw this property when it became available as being an attractive addition to our hospital. We like the fact that it’s visible from Highway 101, which is of course a major thoroughfare coming through town, so it would be nice for us to have a presence there.” SCHHC has three buildings at its 11th Street campus in Bandon: a hospital building, clinic, and administrative. A facility planning process is underway to “identify the space we currently have available in our facility and our space needs for the future, anticipating that in the not-too-distant future we’re

probably going to need to do a major expansion of some type,” said Hino. “Our goal is to eventually convert that (new property) into expanded outpatient clinic space for us,” said Hino. “We have a relatively small outpatient clinic building that has, at present, three full-time doctors, one full-time nurse practitioner, one part-time doctor, one full-time behavioral health specialist, as well as outpatient nursing services, and everybody’s almost sitting on top of each other.” The newly purchased

building is zoned for medical use and has been approved by the Bandon’s city planning department as a medical clinic space, said Hino. It is currently being used as a wellness center, with services including acupuncture and other alternative medicine practices. Some renovations will be required. “We’re going to have to expand the parking lot, install heating and air conditioning, put some more sinks in the Please see HOSPITAL Page 8

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The Nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon, in partnership with Oregon Health Authority (OHA), have received approval for traditional health care practices to be covered through the Oregon Health Plan (OHP/Medicaid) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The approval comes the from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). American Indian and Alaska Natives experience higher health disparities and a lower life expectancy than most other populations, according to a release from the OHA. There is a direct correlation between historical trauma and negative health outcomes. Better understanding of where ongoing health disparities stem from, acknowledges the true history of the nation and state. Honoring Tribal Traditional Healing Practices with the Tribes of Oregon demonstrates a commitment by the state and federal government to support Tribes for improving health in tribal communities utilizing their own Tribal Based Practices, the OHA release states. “It is long overdue that we recognize and provide true support for traditional health care practices and providers in Oregon’s tribal communities,” Oregon’s Medicaid director Emma Sandoe said. “This will help improve the quality of care, healthy outcomes and access to culturally appropriate health for tribal communities in the state.” Tribes in Oregon, Please see TRIBES Page 7

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