Health Care for All Oregon Town Hall Series Coming to La Grande

La Grande's Presbyterian Friendship Center will host a free public town hall on universal health care April 9, when Health Care for All Oregon and members of Oregon's Universal Health Plan Governance Board bring their statewide discussion series to Union County. The event runs 6:30 to 8 p.m. at 1204 Spring Ave. and is open to everyone.

The La Grande stop is part of a series running April 8 through April 26 that will take governance board members and advocacy leaders to communities across Oregon. The timing reflects an accelerating policy calendar: the board, created by the Oregon Legislature in 2023 and charged with developing a plan to finance, administer and transition the state to a universal health care system, is set to deliver that plan to the legislature in September 2026. Lawmakers will take it up in the 2027 session, and Oregonians could be asked to vote on the issue as soon as 2028.

Speakers at the April 9 event will include Mary Lou Hennrich, a Universal Health Plan Governance Board member with a master's degree in nursing who founded CareOregon, and Kate Pfister-Minogue, chair of the Health Care for All Oregon Union County chapter and a La Grande resident. The town hall is designed as an opportunity for community members to ask questions, share concerns and learn about Health Care for All Oregon and the work of the governance board. Registration is at mobilize.us/hcao/event/915359.

Oregon is the only state with a constitutional amendment guaranteeing health care as a fundamental right of every resident. The governance board's plan envisions a system based on Oregon residency and modeled on a single-payer framework: no copays, no deductibles, no medical debt and the freedom to choose providers regardless of employment or income.

Health Care for All Oregon, a nonprofit that advocates for publicly funded universal health care, has pointed to rising medical bankruptcies and a loss of services even among insured Oregonians as evidence that the status quo is failing.

Those who cannot attend in person April 9 can join a virtual town hall April 21; registration is at mobilize.us/hcao/event/915567.