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About North Douglas herald. (Drain Or) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2024)
Page 6 November 2024 Community Pages Lifepoint Oregon Hospital CEO Resigns Michael Mulkey Steps Down Michael Mulkey, CEO of Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville, Ore., will step down from his role on November 1st. He is relocating to be closer to family, a spokesperson for Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health confirmed. Mr. Mulkey has served as CEO of the 60-bed hospital since October 2022. He previously served as a chief strategy officer at Baptist Health System in San Antonio, according to a 2022 news release. On October 30th, Michael provided the following Departure Op- Ed. Last week, I announced plans to leave my post as CEO at Willamette Valley Medical Center. As I shared with my team, this was a difficult decision for me and my wife, Tania, but ultimately the right one as we relocate to be closer to family. In my final days here, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the community of McMinnville and greater Yamhill County. As I reflect on the past couple years here, there have been many defining moments and milestones that have strengthened our facility for the future: We kicked off and completed a $9 million expansion of the HR Hoover, MD Cancer Center expanding our community’s access to advanced technology and exceptional cancer care. We also launched our Healthy Person Program, which leverages advancements in artificial intelligence to detect and act on incidental findings, offering patients a better chance at early diagnosis and survival in their cancer battles. We’ve become leaders in healthcare workforce development through our new Nurse Residency Program and Paid Internship initiatives and were proud to be named Workforce Partner of the Year last month by the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership. We welcomed more than 50 new providers to our medical staff and the community, including family and internal medicine, general surgery, OB/GYN and pediatrics. We celebrated our 120th anniversary as a team and with more than 500 community members, while also marking this important milestone with our historic wall dedication and #120momentsofcare on social media. Our “Make Moments Matter” campaign showcased the remarkable team we have at WVMC, bringing our faces and stories into the community and sharing the extraordinary care we provide. I’m proud of all we have accomplished together during my tenure here and know I’m leaving this community with a stronger hospital and in the best of hands with Tracy Autler, CNO, Chris Brooker, CFO and our outstanding director team at its helm. You and your loved ones will continue to be cared for by a dedicated team of physicians, nurses and staff, who are proud to serve their neighbors, family members and friends, just as this hospital has for more than 120 years. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for allowing me the privilege to serve as your local hospital CEO. It has been a true honor and highlight of my career. While goodbyes are never easy, my transition will be much smoother knowing that the future is bright for Willamette Valley Medical Center with the continued support of Lifepoint Health. Thank you, Michael Mulkey North Douglas Herald Burglar Nabbed in Eugene Still Wearing Movie Shirt He Stole Eugene, OR — The Eugene Police Department (EPD) arrested a man after he was caught breaking into a woman’s apartment. On October 24, 2024, EPD officers responded to the1080 Willamette Street at 10:41 p.m. after security reported a man was inside the parking structure, checking door handles. EPD states that the security officer confronted him and used a taser to hold him for officers, but he managed to escape and flee on foot. As officers were arriving, Central Lane 911 received a call from a woman who had arrived home to her apartment nearby, and discovered a man inside who was wearing her “Boats ‘N Hoes” T-shirt from the movie “Step Brothers”, EPD tells us. The woman screamed and the suspect fled the scene. Police were unable to track his whereabouts immediately. Later on that evening, and EPD tells us that an officer located a man near 11th and Lincoln wearing a “Boats ‘N Hoes” T- shirt. He was uncooperative and had to be taken into custody with the help of a taser. EPD identified the man as Carlos Jesus Carter, 42, who had previous warrants for his arrest. The property was recovered and Carlos Carter was transported to the Lane County Jail and lodged on charges including his warrants and the following: Burglary in the First Degree Two counts of Unauthorized Entry Motor Vehicle Attempted UEMV (unlawful entry into a motor vehicle) Theft in the Second Degree Theft in the Third Degree 3rd largest Earthquake reported off Oregon Coast in past 10 years Wednesday afternoon’s 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck about 173 miles west of Bandon. A tsunami is not expected. Portland, OR— A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck about 173 miles off the central Oregon Coast Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). A tsunami is not expected, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning System. It was the third-largest earthquake reported off the Oregon coast by the USGS in the past 10 years. Aug. 29, 2019: 6.3 magnitude Aug. 22, 2018: 6.2 magnitude Oct. 30, 2024: 6.0 magnitude Sept. 5, 2019: 5.9 magnitude June 4, 2021: 5.9 magnitude Dec. 7, 2021: 5.8 magnitude Dec. 28, 2020: 5.7 magnitude March 26, 2024: 5.6 magnitude Jan. 28, 2018: 5.5 magnitude Nov. 27, 2016: 5.5 magnitude The USGS said Wednesday’s earthquake happened west of Bandon around 1:19 p.m. with a depth of about 6.2 miles. As of 3:10 p.m. Wednesday, 75 people have reported that they felt the earthquake, according to the USGS. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Oregon Wednesday afternoon, according to the United States Geological Survey. Washington state emergency management officials posted on social media that while it can be scary to see a 6.0 magnitude quake happening near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the one Wednesday was in the Blanco Fracture Zone, where quakes are quite common. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a 600-mile- long (965-kilometer) fault just off the coast that runs from Northern California to British Columbia. Tectonic stresses have been accumulating in the zone for more than 300 years, and seismologists say it could rupture at any time, causing a megaquake and tsunami. First-ever Known US Case of Bird Flu found in a Pig in Central Oregon Farm Continued from Front Page noncommercial, and the animals were not intended to enter the commercial food supply. Officials say there is no concern about the safety of the nation’s pork. All five pigs, as well as 70 birds at the property that also tested positive for the virus last week, were euthanized, according to a statement from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. “None of these animals that were affected on this farm or any of the farms in Oregon that have been infected have ever have ever entered the food supply,” said Dr. Ryan Scholz, Oregon’s state veterinarian. And our food does remain safe. Pork products remain safe. Meat products that are properly prepared remain safe. Eggs that are properly prepared, milk that’s been pasteurized that you can buy at the grocery store remains safe. There are other animals like sheep and goats at the farm that officials are monitoring for symptoms of the virus. Scholz said the virus is naturally present in migratory wild waterfowl, which is how it usually spreads to domestic animals. “They [wild birds] serve as a reservoir for this virus,” he said. “So anytime we see concentrations of wild waterfowl moving through our state, particularly in the fall and then in the spring during migratory season, the risk of exposure of domestic poultry to this virus through intermingling with wild waterfowl, which is what we believe to happen on this farm, is much higher.” Bird flu can spread to other wild and domestic animals. Unlike the name suggests, avian flu can jump to other animals, including wild mammals like seals, dolphins, mountain lions and grizzly bears. Earlier this year, scientists discovered the virus can jump to dairy cattle, though no cases have been reported in Oregon cattle. At least 14 states, including California and Idaho, have confirmed herds there have tested positive for the virus. Avian influenza can be fatal to poultry birds like chicken, although health officials do emphasize the risk of bird flu in humans is low. But it is more likely to affect people who are in close, prolonged contact with sick animals. “However, the risk remains low even in those settings, when appropriate personal protective equipment or PPE is used,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state state epidemiologist at the Oregon Health Authority. There haven been over 40 outbreaks across backyard and commercial poultry farms in Oregon, where at least 127 people have been exposed to the virus, although to date, no one has reported becoming sick, according to Sidelinger. “There have been no human H5N1 infections associated with outbreaks in Oregon. To date, no infections amongst people living in Oregon and no evidence of human-to-human transmission,” Sidelinger said. “With that, we can say that the risk of avian influenza to the general public remains low.” Some scientists do warn that public health officials need to ramp up testing on farm workers exposed to sick animals or risk cases going undetected. A case of avian influenza has been confirmed at a Clackamas County commercial egg farm, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The case was confirmed by the U.S Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory on Monday, according to an ODA public document. Officials said Thursday that about 150,000 chickens were euthanized using carbon dioxide poisoning – an authorized method to cull poultry infected with the virus. Agriculture officials say the eggs from the affected birds did not enter the food supply. The same bird flu strain, the H5N1 virus, has affected over 100 million poultry birds across the U.S. since 2022, including nearly 800,000 commercial chickens in Oregon and several backyard flocks. Chickens were so affected in recent years that the virus was blamed in part for skyrocketing egg and meat prices. At least two farmworkers in southeast Washington tested positive for the virus after being in close contact with sick chickens at a commercial farm. Nearly 40 people across the country have tested positive for bird flu so far this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most have reported only mild symptoms, like eye redness. USDA officials have tested the virus found at the Crook County farm, and say it does not seem to have mutated or become more transmissible to people. “USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories has conducted genomic sequencing of virus from the poultry infected on this farm, and that sequencing has not identified any changes to the H5N1 virus that would suggest to USDA and CDC that it is more transmissible to humans, indicating that the current risk to the public remains low,” read a USDA statement. ODA officials say the agency is coordinating with other state and federal agencies to implement a quarantine area at the farm, cleaning and disinfecting the area where the animals were and monitoring people who were exposed to the sick animals. The pig confirmed to have been infected was one of five on a farm in Crook County in south-central Oregon that was experiencing an H5N1 outbreak in poultry. The pig did not display signs of illness, but was euthanized and necropsied — the animal equivalent of an autopsy. Tissue testing showed the pig “had virus throughout their body,” said Ryan Scholz, Oregon’s state veterinarian.
