Wednesday, April 1, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SPRD: Layoffs should
allow people to seek
unemployment
TASK FORCE: Goal to
bolster state9s ability
to provide needed care
Continued from page 3
Continued from page 1
Control and Prevention
(CDC). With our activi-
ties closed indefinitely, I
decided, in consultation with
the board of directors, that
this is the only viable course
of action to ensure the long-
term financial stability of the
district.
<The decision to lay off
almost our entire staff team
was one of the most diffi-
cult decisions I ever made
in my career,= Holland said.
<In the seven short months
that I have worked at Sisters
Park & Recreation District,
I can say that staff here are
some of the most caring,
compassionate and creative
people I have ever worked
with.=
By officially laying off
employees, SPRD hopes
to eliminate barriers for
individuals to apply for
unemployment insurance.
SPRD will also be cash-
ing out accrued paid time
off for affected employees
and reimbursing up to two
months of COBRA health
insurance premiums.
Program cancellations
to date include preschool,
youth and adult recreation
classes and Sisters Annual
Lacrosse Invitational
(SALI). All SPRD facili-
ties including the bike park,
skate park and disc golf park
are closed until April 28.
SPRD is prepared to extend
or shorten these closures
based on direction from
the State of Oregon and the
CDC.
< We a p p r e c i a t e t h e
community support we
have received during this
challenging time,= stated
Holland. <While we9ve had
to extensively reduce our
organization, we are com-
mitted to resuming opera-
tions as soon as possible
once the mandates are eased
or lifted.=
Stay connected with
SPRD by 8liking9 its
Facebook page or visiting
www.sistersrecreation.com.
emergency response to
COVID-19.
<New projections of
COVID-19 cases in Oregon
show the state is at a critical
moment in the fight against
the disease,= the task force
reported. <Social distanc-
ing measures could alter the
trajectory of new infections,
which gives Oregon9s health
care system the chance to
ramp up to meet the coming
surge. But the state has little
margin for error. A return to
8business as usual9 or slight
differences in actual infec-
tion rates (compared to pro-
jected ones) could swamp
hospitals with more corona-
virus cases than they could
treat.=
State agencies, hospitals
and healthcare providers
have already begun to imple-
ment the plan.
" The state is collecting
PPE for re-distribution to
facilities in need.
" Regional hospitals have
signed mutual aid agree-
ments to shift equipment,
workforce and patients
from overburdened facili-
ties to others with adequate
capacity.
" The state is working
with providers to stand-
up alternate care locations
(such as the Oregon Medical
Station), identify and
develop new alternate care
sites, enable ambulatory care
centers to house patients and
re-purpose long-term care
facilities.
" The state and hospi-
tals are sharing hospital bed
utilization data so hospitals
can manage the use of beds
and equipment across their
region.
" The state is develop-
ing childcare options for
healthcare workers, so their
work isn9t interrupted by
school closings and family
responsibilities.
OHA Director Patrick
Allen said, <Oregon9s health-
care system began preparing
for a pandemic years ago,
which gave us a head start
on this plan. From expand-
ing testing to securing more
ventilators for Oregon hos-
pitals, we are united by a set
of common strategies to save
lives in every corner of the
state.=
The latest models state
health officials released
March 26 forecast the fol-
lowing outcomes for three
different scenarios:
" Return to business as
usual: If Oregon lifted all the
social distancing measures
state leaders have instituted in
recent weeks, there will be an
estimated 15,000 cumulative
infections by May 8 (within
a range of 5,900-26,000).
Approximately 1,100 people
would need inpatient beds
(850 AAC/250 ICU) across
Oregon.
" Maintain bans on large
gatherings and indefinite
school closures: There would
be an estimated 6,100 cumu-
lative infections by May 8th
(within a range of 2,000-
12,000) and 340 people will
need inpatient beds (260
AAC/80 ICU).
" Maintain aggressive
interventions put into place
on Monday, March 23 (i.e.,
Stay Home, Save Lives) with
high public adherence: There
will be an estimated 1,000
(within a possible range of
700-3,800) cumulative infec-
tions by May 8. Under this
scenario, hospitals would
have to boost capacity by a
smaller number of beds.
<The models show that
only aggressive interven-
tions, like the Stay Home,
Save Lives executive order
Governor Brown issued
on March 23, are predicted
23
to decrease the number of
active infections,= the task
force reported.
The models state health
officials released today were
prepared by the Institute
for Disease Modeling.
While similar to projec-
tions completed earlier by
researchers at Oregon Health
and Sciences University
(OHSU), these newer models
from IDM take into account
the impact of community-
level social distancing inter-
ventions, which were not
incorporated into the OHSU
study.
Researchers from OHSU
and other hospitals are col-
laborating with OHA to fore-
cast the COVID-19 burden
for their specific hospitals
based on this information.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state
health officer at OHA, said:
<These projections tell
us the sacrifices Oregonians
are making right now can
save lives. At the same time,
they paint a dark picture of
what could happen. We can9t
afford to drop our guard.=
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