OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022
Nurses would get more support under Oregon legislative plan
By SAM STITES
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — In a rare
show of vigorous biparti-
sanship, the Oregon House
of Representatives unan-
imously approved a bill
on Friday, Feb. 25, to sup-
port nurses and address the
state’s ongoing nursing staff
shortage.
If approved by the
Senate, House Bill 4003
would direct the state to
issue nursing intern licenses
to students meeting certain
qualifi cations and allow
them to practice under the
supervision of a registered
nurse.
It would allow nursing
interns to receive pay and
school credit if their insti-
tution allows, and it would
expand programs sup-
porting the mental health
and overall wellness of
nurses in Oregon’s health
care industry. It also extends
a provision put in place by
the state during the pan-
demic allowing emergency
licensure of nurses for an
additional 90 days following
the end of Oregon’s public
health emergency declara-
tion on April 1.
The proposal comes from
Rep. Rachel Prusak, D-West
Linn, who is a nurse. She
worked with groups repre-
senting nurses and health
care workers to craft the bill
in response to staffi ng short-
Oregon Health & Science University/Contributed Photo
The former OHSU auditorium space was converted to work as a routing area for people coming to the emergency department with respiratory
symptoms that could be coronavirus-related. The area has intake, a waiting area that meets social distancing needs, triage and testing. By
cohorting all patients with similar symptoms, medical workers can save PPE.
ages and challenges nurses
are facing that were iden-
tifi ed before the pandemic
and have worsened during
the COVID-19 crisis.
“I have seen fi rsthand
the stress this pandemic
has placed on our already
overburdened health care
system, and I knew the
Legislature had to take
action to avoid further
depleting our health care
workers,” Prusak said.
According to a 2018
analysis by the Oregon
Employment Department,
Oregon was projected to
need an additional 2,600
nurses each year over the
next decade to replace those
leaving the industry. Data
from 2019 shows the state’s
nursing programs produced
only around 1,500 new
nurses ready to enter the
workforce that year.
The pandemic has placed
additional pressure on
schools to produce more
nurses and hospitals to fi nd
ways to retain them.
The bill has the sup-
port of several state-
wide organizations repre-
senting nurses and health
care workers, including the
Oregon Nurses Association,
Oregon Association of Hos-
pitals and Health Systems,
Oregon Center for Nursing
and Oregon Primary Care
Association.
Diane Solomon, a psy-
chiatric mental health nurse
practitioner representing the
Oregon Nurses Association,
told lawmakers earlier this
month that Oregon is “hem-
orrhaging” nurses.
“HB 4003 will help meet
the needs of recruitment, as
well as retention of a vet-
eran, experienced work-
force with essential skills,”
Solomon said. “Funding
expansion of the successful
Oregon Wellness Program
to include nurses will abso-
lutely off er intensely needed
mental health care. In this
way, nurses will be able to
keep working without sacri-
fi cing their own health and
mental health.”
Prusak said she was
proud to have shepherded
the bill through the House
with such widespread sup-
port, and she’s confi dent it
will have the same warm
reception in the Senate.
Rep. Travis Nelson,
D-North Portland — a
fellow nurse and one of the
Legislature’s newest mem-
bers — said the past two
years have been devastating
for nurses on the front lines
fi ghting COVID-19.
He said this bill will
make both short- and long-
term progress in providing
solutions for the nursing
staff crisis in Oregon.
It now heads to the
Senate for consideration.
Lawmakers have until
March 7 to pass bills.
Driving scenic Columbia River Gorge
highway this summer? Get a permit
Legislator salaries could exceed $60k
BY JAMIE HALE
SALEM — Oregon leg-
islators would make almost
$63,500, if they vote to tie
their salaries to the state’s
average wage, according to
an updated report from leg-
islative analysts.
That’s $6,000 more than
what was originally calcu-
lated under terms of the pro-
posed legislative raise.
A Senate committee
advanced Senate Bill 1566
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Looking
to take a drive along the
Historic Columbia River
Highway this summer?
You’ll need a permit for
that.
Timed entry permits
will be required along the
“waterfall corridor” of the
scenic Columbia River
Gorge highway between
May 24 and Sept. 5, 2022,
the Oregon Department of
Transportation announced
Tuesday.
Drivers will need to show
their permits at one of three
checkpoints set up between
Crown Point and Ainsworth
State Park. Those cycling
along the highway, taking
public transportation or on a
tour will not need a permit.
Other parking fees will still
apply at recreation areas
along the corridor.
Details, including how
much the permits will cost
and how many will be sold,
are still being worked out,
department spokesperson
Don Hamilton said. People
will be able to buy permits
online in advance, though a
limited number of same-day
permits will also be made
available.
The new permits are an
eff ort to curb crowds along
the scenic highway, which
gives access to famous land-
marks like the Vista House,
popular hikes at Angel’s
Rest and Wahkeena Falls, as
well as viewpoints at several
other waterfalls, including
Latourell Falls, Bridal Veil
Falls and Horsetail Falls.
“This is a modest step to
help address an increasingly
serious problem,” Hamilton
said. “Everybody knows
how bad the congestion has
been getting in the gorge,
especially in the waterfall
corridor.”
The area is known to fi ll
with cars on sunny week-
ends in spring and summer,
and people have been
known to leave their vehi-
cles parked precariously
on the side of the highway
when parking lots get full.
In recent years, local sher-
iff ’s offi ces have begun
towing cars parked ille-
gally around scenic areas,
especially in the Columbia
Gorge and on Mount Hood.
In the Columbia Gorge,
where land is managed by
the U.S. Forest Service,
the Oregon Parks and Rec-
reation Department and
Washington State Parks,
as well as some local parks
departments, offi cials have
been gradually taking
new measures to curb
Oregon Capital Chronicle
on Tuesday, Feb. 22, with
proponents arguing that
higher wages would improve
diversity in the Legisla-
ture and reduce turnover.
At that time, the legisla-
tive analysts said passing it
would result in paying law-
makers $58,500 beginning
in January 2023. They now
are paid slightly less than
$33,000.
An updated anal-
ysis posted Feb. 24 shows
that the average salary in
Oregon in 2021 was actually
$63,464, so lawmaker salary
would be set at that amount
beginning in January 2023 if
the bill passses.
Their new salary would
increase every two years if
average wages in Oregon
increase, but it couldn’t
decrease more than 2% in a
year, even if average wages
fall. The Senate president
and House speaker receive
twice the salary as other
lawmakers.
March
26-27
Saturday 9:00 am–5:00 pm
Sunday
9:00 am–3:00 pm
DESCHUTES COUNT Y
FAIR & EXPO CENTER
REDMOND
•
OREGON
PRESENTED BY
Oregon Department of Transportation/Contributed Photo
Visiting Multnomah Falls, Oregon’s tallest waterfall, by vehicle
in the summer of 2022 could require obtaining a new permit. The
Oregon Department of Transportation announced a new timed-
entry permit system along the “waterfall corridor” of the Columbia
River Gorge highway.
overcrowding and illegal
parking.
In 2020, the Forest
Service began a permit-
ting system to visit Mult-
nomah Falls during the busy
summer season, off ering
500 tickets for each one-
hour time slot between
9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Permits
are typically waived for
those who take public or pri-
vate mass transportation to
the Columbia Gorge, and
services have increased as
agencies have introduced
new permitting systems.
While the new system
may rankle some people
who are used to driving
freely along the Historic
Columbia River Highway,
the Oregon Department of
Transportation said the per-
mits will ultimately create a
more enjoyable experience.
“This is Oregon’s crown
jewel, the gorge, and we’ve
got to make sure that we
can provide access and we
can provide a way to keep
it a good and eff ective and
safe experience for people,”
Hamilton said. “I think
people are going to fi nd a
better and smoother experi-
ence in the gorge when we
get this going.”
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