Legacy Health sends cease-and-desist letter to nurses union after claims about ICE agents<\/a><\/p>\nONA leader Erica Swartz, a registered nurse with more than 17 years of experience, said fear within hospitals is impeding both access to care and nurses’ ability to do their jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe culture of fear impedes health care access and the provision of care, and it must stop now,\u201d said Swartz. \u201cEvery member of our community has the right to access health care unafraid.\u201d <\/p>\n
Swartz said the bill would ensure private spaces for care and protect nurses who share lawful information or resources with patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Healthcare Without Fear Act creates accountability, protection, and structure,\u201d she said. \u201cThe bill ensures defined private spaces for care.\u201d<\/p>\n
How Oregon hospitals currently handle law enforcement requests<\/p>\n
Hospitals in Oregon already operate under federal and state privacy laws that limit when law enforcement may access patient information.<\/p>\n
In a statement provided to KATU, Providence Health said:<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients are never asked about their citizenship or legal status in order to receive medically necessary care, and we follow federal and state privacy laws, including HIPAA, that protect the confidentiality, dignity and safety of every patient we serve. While law enforcement officials are permitted in public spaces, including entrances, lobbies, and waiting areas, pursuant to our longstanding practice, they are not allowed to access private areas of our facilities unless we have the patient\u2019s explicit consent or the requesting party presents the appropriate legal authority \u2014 such as continuing legal custody, valid subpoena, court order or judicial warrant.”<\/p>\n
“Caregivers have clear procedures to follow if law enforcement agents request access to patients or their information, consistent with federal and state patient privacy requirements, which prohibit disclosure of protected health information without proper authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supporters of SB 1570 say the Healthcare Without Fear Act would not replace those policies but instead standardize and enforce them statewide, particularly in cases involving federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
KATU reached out to DHS and ICE for comment on this legislation and on allegations that federal officers have failed to follow hospital protocol. We have yet to hear back.<\/p>\n
Next Steps<\/p>\n
The bill is still in draft form, with full legislative language expected from Legislative Counsel in the coming days, according to Campos. No hearing has yet been scheduled.<\/p>\n
State Republicans expressed frustration with the decision by sponsoring lawmakers to hold a news conference for a bill with no substantive text, arguing that policy proposals should be clearly drafted and publicly available from the start. <\/p>\n
“This is a prime example of the process problems that come with a decades-long Democrat supermajority. Instead of openly introducing and debating controversial policy ideas, we increasingly see vague study bills used as placeholders while major decisions are discussed behind closed doors,” said a spokesperson for Oregon Senate Republicans. “Oregonians deserve transparency, especially when 17 majority party legislators are sponsoring a bill and standing alongside campaign donors to promote policy language that does not yet exist in the public record.”<\/p>\n
The spokesperson further warned that hospitals are already facing significant financial and administrative pressures and any proposal that adds new requirements should be carefully scrutinized before moving forward.<\/p>\n
“Hospitals across Oregon are still reeling from the administrative and financial impacts of nurse staffing ratios, and many communities are already facing the very real risk of maternity ward closures. With affordability top of mind for all Oregonians, any bill that adds additional burdens to hospitals is poorly timed,” said the spokesperson.<\/p>\n
Campos said she would not speculate about potential legal challenges but framed the bill as part of a broader effort to protect access to care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALEM, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 Oregon lawmakers and health care workers are pushing new legislation they say is needed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-440034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}