Think Out Loud

Ever since the Unity Center for Behavioral Health opened in Portland in 2017, it’s been plagued with problems. Unity patients have assaulted other patients and staff. Safety concerns escalated to the point that the Center was in danger of losing its ability to receive Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. The Center, which is a collaboration among Legacy, Kaiser, Adventist Health and Oregon Health and Science University, expected to lose several million every year on this kind of specialized care. But a series of factors have compounded the problems, and the Center expects to lose about 20 million in 2020. Portland Business Journal health reporter Elizabeth Hayes has followed this story from the beginning and we talk with her about her latest article detailing the Center’s challenges.