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136 14 freeways reVIsIted, CIty-County ConsolIdatIon faIls (1970–1974) by 1970, rising costs at the Multnomah County hospital were threatening a cooperative venture between the county and the University of Oregon Medical School that had worked successfully since the new county hospital opened in 1923. the original agreement called for Multnomah County to maintain the building and allow the medical students access to indigent patients in the furtherance of their training; the medical school would provide the staff. In the meantime, the annual county subsidy had grown from $1.4 million to $3.5 million between 1967 and 1970. “this is a trend we cannot afford to allow to continue,” Commissioner Mel Gordon told state officials.1 the county hospital admitted 9,000 patients in the period 1970-71. Many of them arrived as medical emergencies, so it was not always possible to determine how many were Multnomah County residents. One study suggested as many as 10 percent lived elsewhere, which put Multnomah County at risk of becoming the hospital of last resort for all residents of the metropolitan area. to control costs, the county reduced the number of beds available from 254 to 186. Any further cuts would threaten the medical school’s ability to train its students, said Dr. J. David bristow, chairman of the Department of Medicine.2 County records indicated that 20 of the 24 beds in the hospital’s psychiatric unit were used almost exclusively for teaching medical students. At the county’s urging, Governor tom McCall authorized a detailed study examining the best course of action. In its 1973 session, the Oregon Legislature approved the merger of the County hospital into the Medical School hospital, and medical school officials combined the Multnomah County hospital,Medical School hospital, and related outpatient clinics into what became known as University hospital.3 the following year,this all became the University of Oregon health Sciences Center, independent of the University of Oregon. Its name was freeways reVIsIted; cIty-county consolIdatIon faIls 137 later changed to Oregon health Science University and then to Oregon health and Sciences University. Some parts of the old county hospital were eventually demolished, but one wing, now called the Multnomah Pavilion, remains in active service today, even though county government no longer contributes any financial support to the institution. On the other side of the Willamette river, the private Portland Adventist hospital announced plans in 1971 to build a new hospital on 46 acres of the 247-acre Glendoveer Golf Course in unincorporated east county, a move that would require a zone change or a nonconforming use designation by the county board. Commissioners Don Clark, Mel Gordon, and ben Padrow denied the hospital’s land-use request. Gordon saw this as a chance to preserve the acreage as a golf course, open space, and recreation area. tired of seeing concrete poured for highways, he asked the Oregon Legislature for a loan to help buy Glendoveer. After lengthy negotiations, a $3 million sale of the property to the county was consummated in September 1974. this would be the last parks acquisition Multnomah County would make. the county was to own and operate the 36-hole Glendoveer Golf Course profitably until it was transferred to Metro regional government in 1994. While vacationing in Mexico in April 1972, Multnomah County Chairman M. James Gleason suffered a stroke. It was probably clear at that moment that Gleason, with two and a half years left in his term, had waged his last campaign . the county board was plainly in transition: although Gleason remained the most powerful man in the county in terms of title, he could seldom muster three votes when he really wanted them. the power bloc of Clark, Gordon, and Padrow clearly held the majority. though he was only 61 at the time of his stroke, Gleason returned to his chairmanship job a grayer, old-looking man. he remained fully capable mentally, but spoke slowly and kept his words to a minimum at board meetings . A sign that Gleason was no longer thinking long-term was his appointment of bard Purcell as sheriff in 1972, following the controversy over James holzman. Purcell was a former schoolteacher with more than thirty years of Portland Police bureau experience, but he clearly was not intended as a longterm appointment. Purcell would head up the sheriff’s office from 1972 until early 1974, during a period of relative calm; he then resigned during Gleason’s last year in office so...

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