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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021
IN BRIEF
Vaccines against the virus available
to seniors next week
Coronavirus vaccines will be available for seniors
age 80 and older in Clatsop County beginning next
week.
The county’s vaccine task force said Friday that
200 vaccine doses will be available to seniors by
appointment only.
Another 200 doses are earmarked for those
remaining in the highest priority group, as well as
100 doses for teachers.
Seniors who fi lled out the county’s vaccine plan-
ning survey will be contacted with instructions about
how to register for a vaccination event.
The vaccine planning survey is available on the
county’s website and will help the task force notify
people when they are eligible for a vaccine.
More vaccination events will be scheduled as vac-
cines become available.
As of Friday, the county has administered 3,939
doses, including 3,019 fi rst doses and 920 second
doses.
Steadfast returns after 45-day
counternarcotics patrol
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Steadfast returned to
Astoria on Saturday following a 45-day counter-nar-
cotics patrol in the eastern Pacifi c Ocean.
The crew interdicted four vessels suspected of
smuggling illicit narcotics. Seven suspected nar-
cotraffi ckers were detained and 1,675 pounds of
cocaine, worth more than $28 million, was seized,
according to the Coast Guard.
The crew celebrated Christmas and New Year’s
Day on patrol. Videos from the crew members fami-
lies, along with gifts, were arranged.
Prior to deployment, the crew was tested for the
coronavirus, followed by a two-week monitoring
period.
“Throughout their patrol, Steadfast’s crew main-
tained strict health precautions during all interactions
with the public, including wearing face coverings at
all times and undergoing intensive health screenings
prior to each boarding,” the Coast Guard said in a
statement.
State seeks candidates for
hatchery research board
The state is looking for three new members to
represent a range of issues, including the Colum-
bia River gill net fi shery, on the Oregon Hatchery
Research Center Board.
Successful candidates will each serve four-year
terms. The volunteer board includes 12 members
who represent a variety of groups.
The Oregon Hatchery Research Center is a coop-
erative project between the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife and Oregon State University.
The project’s mission involves looking at the
mechanisms that may create differences between
wild and hatchery fi sh and devising ways to reduce
and manage those differences.
For more information, visit www.dfw.state.or.us/
fi sh/OHRC/board.asp
— The Astorian
In Brief
DEATHS
Feb. 1, 2021
Deaths
GASSNER, Arlen, 92,
of Seaside, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
RISLOW,
Kenneth
Homer, 77, of Astoria,
died in Seaside. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Jan. 29, 2021
KOCHINSKI, Vera,
89, of Arch Cape, died in
Seaside. Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Jan. 26, 2021
WIITALA, Donald,
90, of Astoria, died in
Astoria. Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Jan. 20, 2021
EDWARDS,
Cora,
92, of Warrenton, died in
Warrenton. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary is in charge
of the arrangements.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., (electronic meeting).
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (elec-
tronic meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of
Directors, 5:15 p.m., workshop, (electronic meeting).
Clatsop Community College Board of Education,
5:30 p.m., work session, (electronic meeting).
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., work session, (elec-
tronic meeting).
Lewis & Clark Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., main fi re
station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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DINING OUT
TOP: Mark Hemmer, left, and Linh DePledge of
Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa eat lunch Friday on
the deck of the Bridgewater Bistro. LEFT: Amos
Clapp puts together The Kose on the back deck of
Bridgewater Bistro. The restaurant installed three
of the Portland-made outdoor dining enclosures to
encourage customers to dine outside.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Providence offered insiders early access to vaccine
By JEFF MANNING
The Oregonian
Providence Health & Ser-
vices gave early access to
coveted COVID-19 vaccines
to some members of its Ore-
gon governing and founda-
tion boards in December and
January.
Lisa Vance, the CEO of
Providence Oregon, said the
practice amounted to pref-
erential treatment for insid-
ers, some of whom are also
donors.
The Oregon Health
Authority said Providence’s
actions didn’t meet the state’s
guidelines for initial vaccine
distribution.
“Vaccinating
hospital
administrators, managers,
executives, board members
and other staff who don’t
have the greatest potential
for direct or indirect expo-
sure to patients or infectious
materials is not in align-
ment with Phase 1a guid-
ance,” said Jonathan Modie,
a spokesman for the Oregon
Health Authority.
Providence’s question-
able vaccine allocations
were small in number and
took place largely at facili-
ties outside Portland. Some
cases involved doses that
were nearing expiration
and needed to be injected
that day, according to Prov-
idence. Still, they have
prompted the organization to
launch a review of its poli-
cies and procedures.
Providence operates eight
hospitals in Oregon, making
it the largest health system
in the state. It was founded
by Catholic nuns and Provi-
dence often refers to its indi-
vidual hospitals and other
businesses as “ministries.”
“While our ministries
were acting in good faith
and with the best inten-
tions, we believe we need
to ensure our decisions are
fully aligned with our val-
ues, especially our value of
justice,” Vance said. “We
hold ourselves accountable
to ensuring equity for all we
serve. We are taking actions
to do that going forward,
including working with our
partners in all of our commu-
nity clinics.”
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian
A year ago, hospitals were gearing up virus testing centers.
Now, they’re administering the vaccine, but only under strict
rules of priority.
Providence’s senior exec-
utives in Oregon and all 17
members of the nonprofi t’s
governing body – the Oregon
Community Ministry board
– were vaccinated weeks
ago. Providence insists that
those vaccines for executives
and its governing members
were consistent with state
rules because they qualify as
administrative or volunteer
personnel under Oregon’s
broad defi nition of health
care workers.
The rollout of the
much-anticipated vaccines
has been diffi cult in Oregon
and most of the rest of the
country. The ongoing vac-
cine shortage has fueled an
intense debate about how to
prioritize access to the life-
saving shots.
Oregon put health care
workers at the front of the
line under the state’s vac-
cine sequencing plan, classi-
fying them as 1a in the prior-
ity roster.
Providence in Decem-
ber offered the vaccine to all
27,000 of its Oregon employ-
ees and medical staff mem-
bers. Just 70% accepted the
offer. The others declined the
vaccine outright or said they
preferred to wait until more
was known about its safety,
Providence spokesman Gary
Walker said.
Among
those
who
accepted the vaccine were
Vance, Chief Operating Offi -
cer William Olson and most
of the rest of Providence
Oregon’s senior executives.
Providence argues that it
did nothing wrong in offer-
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Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat
ing early vaccinations to
its executives and to mem-
bers of the board. It points
to the state’s broad defi ni-
tion of qualifying health
care worker, which includes
“administrative” and “vol-
unteers” personnel in addi-
tion to the nurses and doctors
actually working the COVID
wards.
Providence is interpreting
“administrative” to include
all of its executives, regard-
less of how much time, if
any, they spend actually car-
ing for patients.
The Oregon Health
Authority said Providence’s
interpretation is incorrect.
“With both the Pfi zer and
Moderna vaccines remain-
ing in short supply, they
must make sure these scarce
resources are only admin-
istered to individuals who
are eligible to receive them
— and that means only
staff who have the greatest
potential for direct or indi-
rect exposure to patients or
infectious materials,” said
Modie, the health authority
spokesman.
However, Modie said
the state does not antici-
pate sanctioning Providence.
He said the health author-
ity expects providers to take
responsibility and allocate
vaccines appropriately.
“We’re asking people who
work or volunteer in health
care, or serve on health care
boards, to do the right thing:
If your work doesn’t put you
at risk of direct or indirect
exposure to patients or infec-
tious materials, you proba-
bly aren’t part of Phase 1a,
you aren’t eligible, and you
should wait your turn to get
vaccinated,” Modie said.
The issues around Prov-
idence’s vaccine prioriti-
zation are far from unique
— similar episodes have
sparked controversy around
the country. The Seat-
tle Times has reported that
three medical systems in
that region, including Prov-
idence’s medical center in
Everett, gave special vaccine
access to big donors or foun-
dation members.
Earlier this week, Wash-
ington state warned that it
may cut vaccine allocations
to organizations that provide
VIP access.
In s outhern Oregon,
Providence Medford Med-
ical Center is distributing
the vaccine. Members of the
local Providence foundation
board were quietly offered
the opportunity to be put on
a vaccine waiting list. They
would be called in to receive
the vaccine should the hos-
pital fi nish the day with an
excess of doses.
Both the Pfi zer and the
Moderna vaccines must be
stored at cold temperatures
and must be used promptly
once they are warmed for
injection.
The hospital thaws a cer-
tain number of doses each
day based on the number of
appointments they have. If
the patient doesn’t show up,
it needs to fi nd a replacement
right away or discard the
dose when it expires at the
end of the day.
Providence offi cials said
they’re not sure how many
insiders in Medford accepted
the offer and got the shot.
Out on the coast, Prov-
idence Seaside Hospital
offered vaccines to both its
community board and foun-
dation board. Six of those
board members accepted the
offer and got early shots.
Providence’s Vance did
not know about the arrange-
ments in Medford or Seaside
and would have objected if
she did, according to Prov-
idence spokesman Gary
Walker.
Providence has 10 founda-
tions in Oregon, including the
organizations in Medford and
Seaside. Between them, they
raised nearly $54 million in
2019.
Almost by defi nition,
board members of founda-
tions are also major donors.
“Certainly there is a long-
standing tradition of asking
board members to donate a lot
of money,” said Jeri Alcock,
partner and senior consultant
at Rose City Philanthropy in
Portland.
All philanthropic boards
should also have con-
fl ict-of-interest rules on its
books, Alcock added.
“The whole point of being
on the board is that you’re a
disinterested third party,” the
consultant said. “You don’t
profi t from being part of it.”
Providence offi cials ini-
tially maintained that it had
complied with all of Ore-
gon’s rules for vaccine
administration.
“Providence Oregon did
not give any preferential treat-
ment to donors in the COVID
vaccination process,” the
health system said in email
on Monday . “We act in good
faith, aligning our actions
with the guidance of the Ore-
gon Health Authority.”
Two days later, Provi-
dence backed off that stance
and admitted that indeed
some insiders did get prefer-
ential access.