SILETZ NEWS
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Kurtis Barker
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Vol. 50, No. 10
Presorted
First-Class
Mail
U.S. Postage
Paid - Permit
No. 178
Salem, OR
Siletz News
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
October 2022
Clinic has provided 11,000 + COVID vaccines; new COVID, flu vaccines ready soon
By Cherity Bloom-Miller, Clinical Ser-
vices Director
The Siletz Community Health Clinic
has administered 11,318 COVID-19 vac-
cines to more than 5,500 people since
Dec. 23, 2020.
The vaccine clinics went through
several variations until we eventually
worked out all the kinks. By early March
our drive-through vaccine clinics were
administering more than 500 vaccines
in one day! These vaccine clinics would
not have been possible or as successful
without the work of the entire SCHC staff.
Every department had one or more staff
who contributed to the vaccine clinics in
one way or another.
Staff from the Community Health,
Diabetes and CARE programs called every
Tribal member in the beginning, offering
them a vaccine. These calls resulted in
Siletz Tribal members flying in from out
of state to receive their vaccine or making
a 10-hour one-way drive just to have the
opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Staff from Dental, Optometry, the fit-
ness center and Behavioral Health helped
in such areas as traffic control, set-up
and take-down of tents, and monitoring
people after they received their vaccine to
ensure people who had a reaction received
immediate medical care. Staff from the
business office, PRC, CARE, Community
Health, clinic administration and Diabetes
Courtesy photo from SCHC
Clinic staff prepare to give COVID vaccines to Tribal members and others in the
community during one of multiple vaccine clinics held in Siletz.
worked the paperwork tent to ensure we
were organized, had necessary paperwork
and then helped people fill out paperwork
on the day of the vaccine event. Medical
staff prepared and administered thousands
of vaccines.
While the majority of clinic staff
was pulled to assist in these Friday vac-
cine clinics, we couldn’t just stop clinic
services all together. Phones had to be
answered and routed to correct depart-
ments by our front desk staff, Pharmacy
staff had to get prescriptions filled and
delivered. Lab staff kept processing
COVID tests while helping to document
the vaccines administered.
Medical staff helped a provider to
see patients with acute issues, answer
phone calls and also help document the
thousands of vaccines being administered.
When we took our vaccine clinics
on the road, staff from the area offices
jumped in to help in any area they could.
A team of clinic staff provided several
smaller versions of our drive-through
vaccine clinics at all the area offices and
Chinook Winds Casino.
Many of these vaccine clinics were
held in freezing temperatures, rain and
wind storms. Clinic staff showed up at 6
a.m. to ensure the tents were set up, traf-
fic control was in place and all areas had
necessary supplies to keep things running
smoothly. These COVID-19 vaccine clin-
ics were truly an “all hands on deck” sort
of event and I am extremely proud of our
clinic staff and their dedication and tire-
less work to execute these events while in
the middle of the pandemic.
Here are a few examples of the appre-
ciation and feedback SCHC received:
“I want to let you all know what a
superb job you did giving the vaccines to
our elders during the week of Jan. 21-22.
The process was so very well-organized
and it went so smoothly for us all. We
were in and out so quickly with no prob-
See Vaccine on page 8
STAHS to commemorate Indigenous
Peoples Day with celebration
SILETZ, Ore. – The Siletz Tribal Arts & Heritage Society takes pride in
announcing its commemoration of Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 10 at the
STAHS Gift Shop and Museum at the corner of Gaither Street and Logsden Road
in Siletz, Ore.
You are invited to join in a celebration of the rich culture and history of the Con-
federated Tribes of Siletz Indians from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at our recently opened facility.
Door prize drawings will take place every two hours beginning at 11 a.m.,
culminating with the grand prize drawing for a gift basket filled with promotional
items and the announcement of the winner of a 50/50 raffle at 4 p.m.
Enjoy tasty fry bread or take out, browse the gift shop and view treasured historic
hand-crafted Siletz baskets on display.
This is a free family event that includes games for children.
STAHS is a 501C-3 dedicated to supporting and promoting the practice, con-
servation and restoration of the Tribal cultures of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Indians and to sharing the history of the Siletz Tribe.
Courtesy photo from STAHS
A collection of Siletz Tribal cultural items
Siletz Tribal offices will be closed on Monday, Oct. 10, in observance of Indigenous Peoples Day.
In November, Siletz Tribal offices will be closed on Friday, Nov. 11, for Veterans Day; Friday, Nov. 18, for
the Tribal Restoration Holiday; and on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 24-25, for Thanksgiving Day.