WASHINGTON, D.C.-Dr. Mehmet Oz will serve as the next Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services after being confirmed by a partisan vote in the Senate on April 3.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has officially invited Dr. Oz to visit Malheur County in Eastern Oregon for a town hall to hear about the importance of Medicaid.
Malheur County has the highest share of residents in the state enrolled in the federal-state program known as the Oregon Health Plan that helps seniors, children and families cover medical and nursing home costs.
Sen. Wyden first invited Dr. Oz to Oregon during his confirmation hearings in March with the Senate Finance Committee, saying, “I’d like to invite you this morning to come visit Malheur County if you are confirmed and see what this really means to rural communities.”
“I promise you I will be with you,” Dr. Oz said in response to Sen. Wyden’s invitation. “If I’m allowed to do it, I’ll be there in 60 days.”
Now that Dr. Oz has been confirmed by the Senate, Sen. Wyden wrote him a letter offering him the chance to accompany him to a town hall in Malheur County on April 23, or between June 19-21.
“Malheur County boasts one hospital, one nursing home, and a community-based mobile crisis team, operating 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for people who experience a behavioral health crisis,” Sen. Wyden wrote. “These pillars of the community offer stable employment for doctors, nurses, aides, counselors, janitors, and administrators, among others.”
Dr. Oz has not yet announced whether he will visit Malheur County on any of the dates proposed by Sen. Wyden.
Sen. Wyden’s full letter inviting Dr. Oz to Malheur County is available here
