Wednesday, November 29, 2006

My Grief Over OGI

I recently learned of OHSU's plan to move their OGI school from Washington County to their new South Waterfront campus in Portland. This triggered the 5 Stages of Grief.
First, I thought that this could not be happening. How could this be true? So I checked out OHSU's web site and sure enough, there was the plan complete with the goal of quickly selling off the campus.
Stage 2. This news made me very angry with OHSU as they are abandoning Washington County where over 250,000 patient visits come from and nearly 500 of their students come from. To me they just want the revenue from the county residents without giving back. Sure they have medical facilities, but those just bring in more revenue, and the jobs would just be filled by another provider like Providence, Legacy, or Tuality Healthcare if OHSU did not have those facilities. That is not acceptable from a pseudo state entity that receives tax dollars. The private companies take revenue, but not tax dollars (of course they do through Medicare and the like, but not directly).
Bargaining. At first I thought maybe they would keep some facilities at the Hillsboro campus, but then I read about their desire to sell the property, enter Stage Four, depression.
Why OHSU, why? Not only is the county losing the educational opportunities needed to continue moving the economy along, but we are also suffering the economic loss of family wage jobs of the teaching faculty and even the classified staff and administration. Sure, some will keep their jobs, but then they will need to commute to Portland, adding more traffic to the Sunset or on MAX.
Stage Five is Acceptance. I'm not there yet, but I can get there by the State of Oregon doing right to the citizens of Washington County. You see, Washington County is the second most populous county in the state and will probably be number one by 2020. Yet the county contains not a single state university. How's that for taking but not giving back? So I propose that the state and the Board of Higher Education step in and make things right. Now, still let OHSU move, but create a new university at the old campus. I'm thinking OSU-Tuality or better yet Northern Oregon University to round out the state directional schools. We have seven years to decide on a name, and better yet seven years to get the financing arranged, any new construction completed, and get the fundraising started. We would need to accept reality and see if we could raise funds by selling off the naming rights, but this way we can entice the local CEOs and companies to give back to the communities they reside in. I can see it now, the Nike School of Business, the Boyle School of Design, the Tektronix School of Electrical Engineering, the McMenimens' School of Hospitality, and the Teuful School of Landscape Architecture. There are dozens more possibilities, and the school should have a strong service sector focus for the emerging economy. But whether you agree with what the school should be named or its focus, wee should all agree that a state university in Washington County is long overdue, and this is the perfect situation to rectify that blemish on the State of Oregon's record. Therefor I call on all the local government officials and state & federal representatives from the area to make this a top priority at the next legislative session. And to the Board of Higher Education, stop OHSU from selling the property and have it transferred back to the state where it belongs.
I you feel as I do, mail this to your government officials.

Thanks.