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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2021)
Wednesday, September 1, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon CLASSIFIEDS ST. CHARLES: Current openings for nursing staff number 160 Continued from page 1 Help Wanted Please send an email to sistersfencecompany@gmail.com with letter of interest. ~ Now Hiring ~ Three Creeks Brewing Join our crew and help deliver the finest beer, food and service to Central Oregon and beyond! Full-and part-time positions available including line cook, host/hostess, and server. Pay depends on experience and position. Email your resume to resumes@threecreeksbrewing. com to apply. The Garden Angel is now filling landscape supervisor and maintenance crew member positions. LCB #9583. Inquire at 541-549-2882 or thegardenangel@gmail.com OUTGROWN YOUR OLD VEHICLE? Let folks know by advertising in The Nugget! Just $2 per line the first week, $1.50 per line on repeat weeks, and $1 per line week #10 & beyond. And it goes online at no additional charge! Call to place at 541-549-9941 or online at NuggetNews.com It is a problem that began long before COVID reared its ugly head. Dr. Merrill cited a study in 2018 that forecast a shortage of 1 million nursing professionals by 2025. Merrill thinks that number will be considerably more. This is, of itself, a crisis in the making. In <normal= times St. Charles would employ 4,300, which includes 350 medi- cal staff members and 200 visiting medical profession- als. In last week9s Nugget we reported on the growing trend of travel nurses, who on aver- age earn two to three times the pay of the resident staff nurses alongside of whom they serve. Merrill is begging for more nurses from any source, pro- vided that they are accredited. What9s worse, Merrill says, is the trickle-down effect: <We have had as many as 45 COVID patients who could be discharged, but have no place to go. The staff short- age at assisted-living centers and extended-care facilities is equally bad.= If there is insufficient housekeeping or food-service staff at such facilities, much less health workers, they cannot ethically discharge a patient to their care. St. Charles has seen the departure of 300 nursing pro- fessionals in the last three years. Most recently, nurses eligible for early retirement are opting to leave in the face of overwhelming workloads and heartache exacerbated by COVID. SCHS has current openings for 160 nursing staff. Regarding burnout, Dr. Merrill said, <The daily grind of the losses, of having to pro- nounce (death), facing family members, and the constant changing of PPE (personal protective equipment), just wears you out& But it is doing all of this in the face of a large number of people, some quite loud in their refusal, who will not get vaccinated or scoff at masking, that is the most distressing,= he added. St. Charles, Merrill said, has done a good job in increas- ing the footprint to meet the surge. The Redmond hospi- tal for the most part remains off-limits for the treatment of COVID cases except for those who present at the emergency department. Once triaged, they are moved to the Bend campus, where the full range of treatment capabilities is available, such as interven- tional radiology. St. Charles can now move some recovering COVID patients to Redmond, where beds have been designated for such care including the reposi- tioning of the Redmond birth- ing center, which closed in 2019. Even the SCHS Madras hospital can now handle some COVID-related cases. Likewise, in Bend, more beds have been adapted but are not technically ICU-rated, primarily due to the lack of qualified ICU nurses. Dr. Merrill and his team have benefited from the arrival of around 130 Oregon National Guard members who are deployed in all four cam- puses to cover non-profes- sional or non-licensed clinical positions. Many of the 500 St. Charles volunteer corps have been returning to limited duty in Bend, taking some pressure off medical staff. Any day now Merrill expects more relief from Oregon Health Authority and FEMA that includes nursing and other clinical resources. They are hoping for more high-capacity-style ventila- tors. Of the 58 ventilators in the St. Charles network, only 20 meet that definition. Dr. Merrill was quite 21 cautious in making any pre- dictions as to when we might see the peak in the current surge. St. Charles9 data sci- entists in co-ordination with their statewide peers are cur- rently modeling somewhere between September 10 and 17 for the peak. <These are only models,= Merrill warns, subject to a lot of variables, chief among them vaccination rates cur- rently standing at around 71.7 percent of the total state9s eli- gible population. Our interview concluded with Merrill emphasizing <not to dither= if you are feel- ing poorly. The earlier you get treated, the less the severity of the disease and the faster the recovery. Related story: <Sisters woman experienced new COVID-19 therapy,= page 9. COVID-19 Testing Sites in Redmond Provider Central Oregon Pediatric Clinic 413 NW Larch Ave. • 541-389-6313 Family Care Urgent Care 1001 NW Canal St. • 541-541-8088 Mosaic Medical Clinic 1250 SW Veterans Way • 541-383-3005 Rite Aid 1514 SW Highland Ave. • 541-548-6041 Summit BMC Medical Group 865 SW Veterans Way • 541-382-2811 Walgreens 1450 S. Highway 97 •541-548-1731 Your Care Urgent Care 3818 SW 21st St. •541-548-2899 Rapid Tests? Hours Yes M-F 9-4:30 Yes Yes Yes M-Th 9-5 Yes, usually same day No Yes M-F 9-5 Yes Yes Daily, hours vary M-F 7:30- 6:30, Sa 8-4 Daily 9-1:30, 2-6 M-F 8-7, Sa-Su 8-4 Yes, same day Yes, usually same day No Yes No Yes Appointment Referral required? required? No Yes No No No No — FOR SALE BY OWNER — COZY HOUSE IN THE PINES (Brooks Camp Village Section) BANR ENTERPRISES, LLC Residential & Commercial Contractor BANR can help you from clearing to concrete… demolition to design. When the going gets tough, even the tough call us! CCB#165122 T JUS ED! T LIS 541-549-6977 WWW.BANR.NET | SCOTT@BANR.NET MILLION DOLLAR VIEWS! 16825 Varco Rd., Bend OPEN FOR INDOOR & OUTDOOR DINING Phone orders for coffee, pastries, and box lunches. Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 541-588-0311 201 E. 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