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.