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Care support efforts help member improve quality of life
By Eleanor Gorman, CareOregon Design Specialist
Floydean Satterlee has been a CareOregon member since June 2003. She grew up in Southeast Portland attending the Buckman Elementary School, ending her education with the fifth grade. She continued to live with her mother across the street from the playground, crossing the street each day to play with the children during recess and after school.
Floydean, now 61 years old, lives in a small one-room apartment in North Portland and enjoys the company of her neighbors, friends, church community and two parakeets, Sunshine and Sugar Babe. She is a member of the True Vine Missionary Baptist Church in her neighborhood and belongs to the church choir sing-a-long. Recently, she traveled with her church group to California to sing in a church concert in Sacramento. Floydean also participates in a singing ministry at the Portland Mission on the first Monday of each month.
She faces the daily challenges of a number of serious health issues and disabilities. Still, she is able to live alone with a support system of CareOregon staff, a social worker, a caretaker who visits her once a week to help with cleaning and cooking, and her physician, Dr. Peter Hatcher.
Prior to care support efforts, Floydean visited the local hospital emergency room about 10 times each month. These visits have now been reduced substantially and her quality of care has increased. Her relationship with Dr. Hatcher combined with her network of case workers have contributed to this positive outcome.
A life-size portrait of Floydean greets visitors to the 11th floor of the CareOregon building at 315 Fifth Avenue in Portland. She was one of CareOregon members photographed by renowned photographer Bruce Davidson.
Bruce Davidson is most recognized for his work around the Civil Rights movement and in photographing low-income people, families and communities in New York City. As part of our ongoing effort to communicate our vision to the community, we partnered with Bruce in an effort to advocate for our members and raise awareness about the great work being accomplished by the Oregon Health Plan. Read more about the Bruce Davidson photography project.
Many people do not understand who is being helped through OHP. Almost 70 percent of CareOregon members are under age 18. Many of our members – like Floydean – have debilitating illnesses or injuries. Many have simply fallen on tough times and need a helping hand to get through. The goal of the project is to show that OHP members are an important part of our lives: our grandchildren, our neighbors, our community members.
