The Lookout Eugene-Springfield Editorial Board recently weighed in on how PeaceHealth can recoup its reputation.

PeaceHealth needs enough quality staff so that the work week is close to 40 hours and ER wait times meet the need for prompt, thorough care. I assume this means a lot more staff. Staff must be paid a living wage. How to get this done is a challenge the public must meet.

PeaceHealth cannot maintain RiverBend and its other facilities at the quality level we want without reliable funding. Right now, that does not exist. We, the voting public, have responsibility in this equation. PeaceHealth must use those funds effectively, but reliable funding must exist.

Most patients are not financially able to pay the true cost of their care. Insurance companies are in business to make money and do so. To date, the only source of funding for the level of healthcare we want is the government, via Congress. Without a Congress that is willing to use taxpayer money to fund our hospitals at the needed level of quality, we, the voters, increasingly will be unable to get the care we need in a timely manner. This is one fundamental issue at stake in November’s election.

Oregon has one member of Congress who voted for the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill that curtailed hospital funding, Rep. Cliff Bentz. His constituents need to know he supported that bill and, in consequence, the reduction in funding.

If voters want quality medical care to be an option, they need to say so clearly to their members in Congress. They need to vote for candidates who agree.

Dorothy Crafts
Eugene