Get to know Dr. Alan Bates!

Dr. Alan Bates has lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of his life. Dr. Bates was a pre-medical student for two years at Wayne State University when he entered the US Army. He volunteered for Vietnam and spent one tour of duty there. Upon his return from Vietnam, Dr. Bates completed his bachelor's degree at Central Washington State University in 1969. After working for four years with Parke Davis & Company, he attended medical school at the Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine. He interned at Denver General and Rocky Mountain Hospitals in Colorado. Dr. Bates moved to Southern Oregon after completing his internship and has remained there in private practice for the last 25 years.

Before entering politics, he was Chief of Medicine at both Rogue Valley Medical Center and Providence Medical Center, and a board member of a group of primary care physicians. He served three terms on the Eagle Point School Board and an appointed term on the Governor's task force on Quality in Education.

In 1989, Dr. Bates was appointed to the Health Services Commission, which was instrumental in designing and implementing the Oregon Health Plan. He was re-appointed by Governor Barbara Roberts and then again by Governor John Kitzhaber. He chaired the Commission for three years, until resigning to run for public office.

Dr. Bates was first elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 2000 and again in 2002. He served on the Ways and Means Committee and the Ways and Means Subcommittees on Education and Health Care. Dr. Bates was instrumental in drafting legislation to revamp the Oregon Health Plan and authored the provider tax legislation to maintain critical funding for OHP patients and bring additional federal dollars to Oregon for Medicaid patients. He also passed legislation to augment funding to Oregon Trauma Centers and ensure the viability of Oregon's lifesaving trauma care system.

In 2004, Dr. Bates was elected to the Oregon State Senate. His Senate colleagues elected him Deputy Majority Leader as a freshman Senator. During the interim he served as chair of the Senate Commission on Health Care Access and Affordability as well as a member of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Alternative Energy.

Prior to the 2007 Legislative Session, Dr. Bates was elected Senate Majority Whip. He served as co-chair of the Senate Special Committee on Health Care Reform, as well as a member of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
During the 2007 legislative session, Dr. Bates authored Senate Bill 329, a landmark healthcare reform bill that created the Oregon Health Fund Board. On June 28, 2007, the Healthy Oregon Act was signed into law by Governor Kulongoski, having passed the Oregon Legislature with broad, bipartisan support. He continues to work with the Oregon Health Fund Board and other Members of the Legislature to ensure that the Board's recommendations to expand health care coverage, lower costs, and improve quality in Oregon are implemented during the 2009 legislative session.

Dr. Bates currently serves as Chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee and is a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Health Care Reform and the Legislature’s Emergency Board.