By Kristin Whitney
On July 7, Legacy Health announced the opening of a new Family Birth Center at Randall Children’s Hospital, the most ambitious center of its kind in a generation and the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art birth center in Oregon.
Continue reading Randall Children’s Hospital opens new Family Birth Center
By Vicki Guinn
HISTORY
The vacant land bordering N. Russell, Williams and Vancouver streets on the Legacy Emanuel campus was once part of a thriving community called Albina that housed most African Americans in Portland and Oregon during the 1940s and 50s. Institutional racism made it illegal and difficult to own land as a minority. With few options beyond Portland’s least desirable areas, African Americans primarily settled in the city’s northeast quadrant.
Continue reading Righting a historical wrong, an update on the Legacy Emanuel property
By Legacy Emanuel/Legacy Randall
TO REGISTER: https://www.solveoregon.org/opportunity/a0C1I00000QFRpQ
Project Description: Volunteer to help clean up the neighborhood surrounding Legacy and Randall medical centers. Both facilities are nestled in the Eliot Neighborhood, including nearby Dawson Park, Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church, and many historical homes and small businesses.
We have priority areas for clean-up. When you a finished, you will drop off your bagged litter in dumpsters at the Legacy Emanuel registration area.
Pre-registration required: Staff, physicians, family (13 and up) friends are welcome. No experience necessary. Many hands make light work. Use the link above to register.
Meeting and registration location: 2801 N. Gantenbein, main entrance of Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.
Staggered check-in: To avoid a crowd, check-in is between 9:30 am and 10 am.
Free parking: on street or parking structure across from the main entrance.
Bathrooms: portable restrooms are available (ADA accessible). The clean-up is ADA assessable. It’s throughout the neighborhood, walking on sidewalks.
What’s provided: heavy-duty garbage bags, litter grabbers, high-vis vests, and gloves are provided to all volunteers who need them.
What to bring: Bring water, snacks. There will be some water and snacks at the Legacy Emanuel registration area. COVID-19
Safety: Please come wearing a mask. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A MASK ON TO PARTICIPATE.
Age: Youth 13 years and up with an adult. All participants must register and sign a waiver form (you’ll see this when you click the link)
What to wear: comfortable walking shoes, bring gloves if you have them. Dress for the weather.
Supplies: we will supply vests, gloves (or you can bring your own), bags, and tool for picking up garbage.
Contacts: Vicki Guinn and Linda Stanford: vguinn@lhs.org or Lstanford@lhs.org
Photo: courtesy of SOLVE.
The Eliot Neighborhood is a geographically unique neighborhood in Portland. Bounded geographically from the Willamette River to NE 7th Avenue and the Fremont Bridge/Fremont Street to N/NE Broadway Avenue, Eliot is shaped like a rectangle plus a triangle. While most current residents in Eliot live between N Vancouver and NE 7th, that was not always the case.
By Vicki Guinn
Legacy Health today announced Gretchen Nichols BSN, MBA, as president for the Columbia Region. Her responsibilities will include leadership of Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Mount Hood medical centers. Legacy’s new regional president role combines leadership of two hospitals to better focus on meeting the health needs of the community and providing patients with an integrated health care experience across its array of services in the region.
“Gretchen brings a strong track record of developing new services and programs and a deep experience in East County to the regional president role,” said Trent Green, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Legacy Health. “Her leadership will help Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Mount Hood continue to grow and innovate while providing outstanding patient care.”
“Legacy Emanuel and Legacy Mount Hood both play critical roles in meeting the health needs of the region,” said Nichols. “I look forward to collaborating with the physicians and staff at both hospitals on how we work together to best care for our patients and this growing community.”
A registered nurse, Nichols came to Legacy in 2007 as Legacy Mount Hood’s chief nursing officer. She served as president of Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center from 2009 to 2019. Most recently, Nichols served as interim president of Unity Center for Behavioral Health. During her tenure at Legacy Mount Hood, Nichols oversaw a significant expansion of services, including the addition of advanced cardiac care, a fast-growing robotic surgery practice, and the launch of a regional gastroenterology and endoscopy center, and led the hospital in achieving high marks in quality and service.
By Vicki Guinn
Legacy Health announced the appointment of Melissa Eckstein, MSSW, MBA, LCSW, as the new president of Unity Center for Behavioral Health effective September 30, 2019.
“We selected Melissa after a rigorous nationwide search with multiple highly qualified candidates,” said Trent Green, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Legacy Health. “Melissa brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in creating safe, caring environments for patients experiencing acute behavioral health crises and has a strong background in fostering relationships with staff, patients and the community.”
“Compassionate and respectful around-the-clock mental health services are needed for those facing a mental health crisis,” said Eckstein. “We can only do this with a highlytrained staff of professionals who feel supported and can focus on providing high-level care to patients. I look forward to working with Legacy Health leaders, staff and other partners to continue to improve the Unity Center model of care and to continue to build upon this greatly-needed service in the community.”
Eckstein has held leadership roles guiding the operations of behavioral health centers that offer crisis intervention. She most recently served as the chief executive officer of Palo Verde Behavioral Health, an inpatient and outpatient mental health and substance use treatment facility which offers programs for adults and adolescents. Prior to that, Eckstein held the position of chief operating officer for Spring Mountain Treatment Center and Spring Mountain Sahara in Las Vegas, Nevada. She served as CEO for Salt Lake Behavioral Health Hospital in Salt Lake, Utah, and COO for Ascend Health Corporation.
Eckstein holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas; an MBA from Texas Women’s University; and a Master of Science in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is a licensed clinical social worker.
By Vicki Guinn
On Tuesday, March 5 at 10 am near the main entrance of Legacy Emanuel Medical Center there was a tree planting ceremony. The medical center will receive and plant 30 trees in the first phase of a larger tree planting on the 50-acre campus, which includes Randall Children’s Hospital and the Legacy Oregon Burn Center. This year and next, up to 150 trees will be planted.
By Vicki Guinn
In the middle of the afternoon, about 60 Legacy Emanuel physicians, security officers, nurses, therapists and more gathered for the inaugural Schwartz Center Rounds. A palliative care physician warmly greeted attendees followed by co-facilitators who explained usual ground rules of confidentiality, listening without judgment and silencing pagers and cell phones, to focus on being together and creating a safe place to share the challenges of caring for patients.
Continue reading Legacy Emanuel Launches Schwartz Center Rounds for Compassionate Care
By Vicki Guinn
At the Healthcare Design Expo & Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, November 12, representatives of Legacy Health and landscape architect Quatrefoil, Inc., received The Center for Health Design’s Evidence-Based Design Touchstone Award Platinum – the highest level – for the Evidence-Based Design (EBD) and Evaluation of the second-floor terrace garden at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.
Continue reading Legacy Receives Highest Honor for Therapeutic Garden Design
Eliot Neighborhood 