Before Stephen Calhoun connected with a primary care team at La Clinica in Jackson County, his health care services were driven by emergencies. He would wait until his uncontrolled blood pressure spiked or chest pain flared or he was out of breath. Then he'd land in the hospital.

More than 150 people — business men and women, lawmakers, county public health providers, hospital workers and university students — filled a room at Central City Concern in Portland today to hear Governor John Kitzhaber explain how Oregonians are on the road to better health and better care at a more sustainable cost.

For lack of a new $57 shower chair, Bart Clifford suffered an injury and a gangrene infection that put him in the hospital for months, required multiple surgeries and skin grafts, and ran up more than $2 million in medical costs.

Clifford's case is a dramatic example of how the patchwork system of uncoordinated health care can be "penny-wise and pound-foolish." It also shows how a prudent preventive approach could improve lives and save money by focusing more directly on a patient's primary care needs.

Ruth McEwen suffered a broken neck and nearly died in a devastating house fire when she was 3 months old. The fire killed her mother and severely burned her father - and left Ruth a quadriplegic from spinal cord injuries.

"I don't have control of my limbs," she says.

Federal and state health coverage for people with disabilities depends on their age, level of disability and income. Navigating those benefits and their shifting eligibility rules can be daunting - especially for the roughly 60,000 "dually eligible" Oregonians who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.

Memorial Day is a time to spend with friends and family but it also a time to honor and remember the sacrifices of those how lost their lives in the service of our country. It is a time to think about heroes who make the ultimate sacrifice in service to others.

This year Memorial Day is all the more poignant for the health and human services community because of the tragic death last weekend of a mental health worker in the line of duty.