More than 30 people with disabilities and their advocates turned out at the downtown library Thursday afternoon to talk about issues surrounding access to health care.

For the most part, they said, Corvallis does a pretty good job of minimizing barriers that could keep them from getting the care the need. But in the course of the 2½-hour town hall meeting, they also agreed that some things need improvement.

For instance, there was plenty of praise for Dial-A-Bus, the local door-to-door transportation service, but also a chorus of complaints about limited service availability and long lead times to line up rides. There were also calls for more frequent and extensive Corvallis Transit System bus runs.

A number of people reported difficulty navigating around the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center complex, with gripes about far-flung parking lots and a lack of signage to help people find their way.

But the most heartfelt laments revolved around attitudes toward people with disabilities and the people who try to help them.

"Sometimes the physician will speak directly to me instead of to the person I'm supporting," said one caregiver.

Some caregivers reported the opposite problem - medical staff who refused to give them information about the patient they were helping because of restrictions imposed by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

"That law has become a real difficulty for communication to the patient or caregiver," said one man who has a disability.

One woman with bipolar disorder said she has trouble getting doctors to take her physical ailments seriously.

"I'll go to my primary care physician, and he'll look at my list of medications for my psychiatric disorder -. and he'll say, 'I don't want to give you any other medications,'" she said. "He's so hesitant to treat me."

After a show of hands, the meeting facilitators listed the top priorities for improvement in three categories.

Transportation barriers:

• Limited availability and long waits for Dial-A-Bus service.

• Limited routes and hours for Corvallis city buses and lack of rural bus service.

• Limited disabled parking spaces.

Physical barriers:

• Poorly designed parking facilities and inadequate crosswalks at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center complex.

• Improperly marked and installed curb ramps and lack of lever-style door hardware.

• Inadequate directional signs at Good Samaritan complex.

Attitude barriers:

• Lack of education among health care providers in how to work with disabled patients, medical marijuana users and other "nontraditional" patients.

• Providers withholding patient information from personal caregivers because of medical privacy laws.

• Providers who can't see past a mental or physical disability to address legitimate physical ailments.

Hosted by The Arc of Benton County, the meeting was organized by the Oregon Office on Disability and Health.

In a follow-up meeting Nov. 5, local health care providers and community leaders will discuss the barriers to access identified in Thursday's town hall and talk about ways to address them.

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.