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OHSU Launches Statewide Database of Specialists

The state is launching Oregon Health Go Local (www.medlineplus.gov/oregon), which provides Oregonians with information about health care services and facilities across the entire state.
Media Event

What: Demonstration of new Oregon Health Go Local Web site with National Library of Medicine Director Donald Lindberg, M.D.  

When: Tuesday,May 12, 11:30 a.m.

Where: OHSU Library (Biomedical Information Communication Center)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon is the latest state to join a national database linking patients to health services, facilities and resources in their own communities. The state is launching Oregon Health Go Local (www.medlineplus.gov/oregon), which provides Oregonians with information about health care services and facilities across the entire state. An official launch event featuring comments by National Library of Medicine Director Donald Lindberg, M.D., will take place on Tuesday, May 12, at 11:30 a.m. in the OHSU Library.    

“The purpose of this free database is to link those searching for health information with specialized health care services within or near their own communities,” said Todd Hannon, M.L.S., principal investigator for Oregon Health Go Local.

“The database also interfaces with MedlinePlus®, easy-to-read and reliable consumer health information compiled by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

Having all of this information on one Web site allows visitors to learn about a particular health condition and then find local clinics and health service agencies that specialize in treating or providing services related to the disease or disorder all within a few mouse clicks.”

Oregon Health Go Local includes hospitals, health clinics, government agencies, support groups, libraries, nonprofit service organizations and much more.

Locating health care close to home is becoming more difficult in communities across Oregon and the rest of the country due to a nationwide shortage of providers. The Go Local system partially helps solve that problem by alerting residents to nearby services they may not have been aware of.   

Oregon Health Go Local was created through funding to the OHSU Library by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered through the Oregon State Library, and with federal funds from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. With these funds, library staffers were able to locate and catalog health services across the state. This information was then placed online and organized so that navigation is easy and fast. The site allows visitors to look for information in a variety of ways. They can search by location by clicking on a county-by-county map of the state. Visitors can also search by the type of provider or service, by disease or health issue or they can simply search for health information in the MedlinePlus database.

There are more than a thousand local services already listed at the site, and new resources are being added as they are identified by the OHSU Library or through visitors to the site.

For more information about Oregon Health Go Local, visit www.medlineplus.gov/oregon. More information about MedlinePlus can be found at www.medlineplus.gov.