Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek called the birth center at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center a “critical service” during a visit to Baker City on July 19 as part of her statewide “One Oregon Listening Tour.”

Kotek, a Democrat, was elected in November 2022 and took office January 7. She plans to visit all 36 counties in Oregon during her first year in office. The trip to Baker City was her first official visit to Baker County since she was inaugurated. 

Following a tour of the Baker Technical Institute, Kotek addressed the pending birth center closure and several other topics in an interview with the Baker City Herald.

Kotek said she has talked with officials from Saint Alphonsus.

They announced on June 22 that the birth center would close July 30, which would leave Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande, about 43 miles away, as the nearest maternity ward.

Saint Alphonsus officials did say on July 14 that they are looking at possible options to keep the birth center open for a “short time,” a term they haven’t defined.

Kotek said it’s not reasonable to expect pregnant women to drive 45 minutes for prenatal visits and to deliver their babies — especially when the route from Baker City to La Grande is Interstate 84, which has been closed due to weather and crashes several times at least in each of the past few winters. Some of those closures lasted for more than six hours.

Kotek pledged to continue working with Oregon’s U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, to help Saint Alphonsus deal with the shortage of nurses that hospital officials cited as the main reason for the pending closure.

Finding a permanent solution to the situation is also vital, Kotek said.

Homeless

Kotek said state officials continue to make a concerted push to fix this crisis, including boosting the housing inventory.

Currently, the state is only 20% of the way to reaching its goal of 36,000 new homes per year goal.

“We have a long way to go,” Kotek said.

The 2024 legislative session next winter will be focused on housing construction and obtaining funding for current shelters, Kotek said.

This year’s legislative package focused on expanding shelter capacity, but Kotek said the state also needs to be sure that existing facilities can continue.

The state has already passed its goal for the year of adding 700 new shelter beds, Kotek said.

Kotek visits heavily GOP areas

Baker County is a sparsely populated, with 16,860 residents – ranking 28th out of the 36 Oregon counties.

The county has a heavily Republican voter tilt. In November 2022, the county had 5,869 registered Republicans vs. 1,948 registered Democrats. Non-affiliated voters, who could not vote in the primaries, account for 4,235 registered voters.

Kotek lost Baker County in the Democratic primary and the general election.

In May, Treasurer Tobias Read received 386 votes in Baker County to 359 for Kotek, who finished second.

Then-Baker City Mayor Kerry McQuisten won the Republican primary in Baker County, with 1,411 votes. Former House Republican Leader Christine Drazan of Canby finished third with 404 votes. 

Kotek won 56% of the statewide Democratic primary vote. Drazan won a plurality of 22.5% of the vote in the crowded Republican primary to capture the GOP nomination.

In November, Drazan won Baker County with 6,328 votes to 1,483 for Kotek,  Former Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, who ran as an unaffiliated candidate, received 864 votes.

Kotek won 47% of the vote statewide to 43.5% for Drazan. Johnson received 8.6% of the vote.

Kotek is the first openly lesbian governor in Oregon history. She was accompanied on the trip to Baker City by First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson.

During the visit, Kotek discussed the recent resignation of Baker City Mayor Matt Diaz. Multiple Baker City residents called on Diaz to resign after he shared on his personal Facebook page a meme showing four Pride flags arranged to create a swastika.

Diaz did resign earlier this month, but because he is moving outside the city and is no longer eligible to serve based on the city charter.

Kotek said she believes Oregonians like to be accepted for who they are.

“I think it’s good for the community that he resigned,” she said of Diaz.

Kotek said her “One Oregon Listening Tour,” in which she plans to visit each of Oregon’s 36 counties during 2023, is intended to find commonalities among her constituents.

“I don’t know all the answers,” she said. “Communities know what they need. I’m here to listen.”

The Baker City Herald is an EO Media Group newspaper and part of the Oregon Capital Bureau network of statewide media. Oregon Capital Bureau reporter Gary A. Warner contributed election return information to this story.