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Lawmakers hear request to fund OHSU addiction‑medicine fellowship to expand specialist pipeline
Summary
Physicians and advocates asked the committee to allocate $1.2 million over two years to sustain and expand the only Oregon addiction‑medicine fellowship, which trains new board‑certified clinicians who are likely to remain in state practice.
Physician advocates told the House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care on March 13 that Oregon needs sustained funding for addiction‑medicine training and asked lawmakers to fund the Oregon Health & Science University fellowship with $1.2 million over two years.
Dr. Moxie Loeffler and Dr. David Simmons described the fellowship at OHSU, which trains four fellows annually, as the primary pipeline for new addiction‑medicine specialists in Oregon. Loeffler said recent changes to board‑certification standards will increasingly require formal fellowship training to become board‑certified in addiction medicine.
"When physicians choose where to train, they are far more likely to practice in that area after graduation," Loeffler said, urging legislators to invest in the local training pipeline. Simmons added that addiction medicine is often a specialty of care coordination and that properly funded fellowships can raise the standard of care and improve continuity after detox and other acute services.
The bill discussed funding to cover trainee stipends and modest administrative costs. Witnesses said many safety‑net addiction programs rely on temporary grants and that fellowship graduates often fill leadership roles, helping expand services in underserved communities.
Sponsor Rep. Noss said the program helps create specialists who can treat co‑occurring medical and psychiatric conditions and urged committee members to consider the measure when assembling budget priorities.
