The additional beds represent a sliver of what’s needed following a years-long effort to try to replace Central City Concern’s Sobering Station that abruptly closed in December 2019 following dozens of accounts of people harming themselves in isolation cells.
Opinion: Homelessness crisis needs urgent public health response that focuses on reducing harm
Updated Mar 07, 2021;
Meieran is an emergency medicine physician and Multnomah County commissioner for District 1. She lives in Portland.
There is a humanitarian crisis facing us in Multnomah County. Thousands of people are living outside in unsafe and unhealthy conditions, with inadequate shelter or medical care. Only weeks ago
, a man in a makeshift shelter burned to death while trying to keep himself warm. Homeless encampments, which posed health and environmental risks prior to the COVID pandemic, have grown substantially in number, size and impact over the past year. The current situation is unacceptable from a health, safety and human decency standpoint.