REGION
Thursday, October 24, 2019
East Oregonian
Car seat technicians help parents
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— New parents may feel
like they need an engineer-
ing degree to fi gure out their
child’s car seat, but there is
plenty of help available for
navigating the straps and
buckles.
Umatilla Morrow County
Head Start, Good Shepherd
Medical Center in Hermis-
ton and St. Anthony Hospital
in Pendleton all have certifi ed
car seat technicians happy to
do a free check for anyone
worried they might not be
buckling a child in correctly.
Amy Hendrix, health
and nutrition director for
UMCHS, said even a mem-
ber of Head Start’s own
staff came in with a car seat
installed “vey incorrectly.”
“It doesn’t matter your
education level — car seats
are complicated,” she said.
They offer car seat and
booster seat checks Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. at the Hermis-
ton offi ce and Pendleton WIC
offi ce, as well as by appoint-
ment in Milton-Freewater.
Maria Arroyo, one of the
certifi ed technicians, said
one of the biggest problems
she sees is car seats installed
Contributed photo by Kim Fetrow
Emily Smith waits for peo-
ple to visit the free car seat
checks that St. Anthony Hos-
pital conducts once a month
at the Walmart parking lot in
Pendleton.
in a way that allows them to
move too much in the event of
a crash.
“Oftentimes, I fi nd I’ll
tug on it and it will move 3
inches,” she said.
The harness over the child
might also be too loose or the
wrong height.
An infant or toddler can
slide out the top on impact if
the straps are lower than their
armpits.
For older children with
a booster seat, the seat belt
should be on their shoulder,
not on their neck or under
their arm.
In addition to checking car
and booster seats and teaching
the parent how to buckle their
child in correctly, Arroyo said
she also teaches them how
to make adjustments as their
child grows, and when they
will require a new seat.
Oregon law requires chil-
dren over 40 pounds to use
a booster seat until age 8 or
growing to 4 feet, 9 inches
tall. But Arroyo recommends
keeping them in the booster
seat after age 8 if they haven’t
hit the height requirement yet.
Parents can be ticketed in
Washington for allowing their
child under age 13 to sit in the
front passenger seat. While
Oregon does not have an age
limit for sitting in the front,
experts recommend that chil-
dren under 13 remain in the
back.
Hendrix said she can per-
sonally testify to the effective-
ness of a properly installed car
seat, after she got in a crash
years ago with her 3-year-old
daughter strapped in.
“The car was totaled, but
my youngest daughter was in
a car seat and she didn’t even
cry, she was so protected,”
Hendrix said.
Car seats expire after six to
10 years of use, and should be
replaced if they are in a seri-
ous crash.
“There can be hairline
cracks the eye can’t see,”
Arroyo said.
UMCHS recognizes that
not everyone can afford to
pay for a car seat, which is
why they also offer car seats
for $10 to $30 for low-income
families who receive benefi ts
such as WIC or SNAP, or have
been referred through agen-
cies such as Domestic Vio-
lence Services. Call 541-564-
6878 for more information.
St. Anthony Hospital also
offers discounted booster and
car seats for those in need, as
well as monthly installation
clinics, which usually take
place on the last Wednesday
of the month in the Pendleton
Walmart parking lot. People
can also call 541-278-2627 to
set up a private appointment.
Emily Smith, a car seat
technician for St. Anthony,
said every time someone
stops by the clinics, there is
almost always something that
needs adjusted. Sometimes
the harness is on wrong or
the tether isn’t being used cor-
rectly. Other times the child
might be too big or too small
for the seat.
“I’d say out of every
10 car seats we see come
through the clinic, only
one or two is installed cor-
rectly,” she said. “Often it’s
little things, but there’s usu-
ally something we can do to
make the kiddo safer.”
Good Shepherd implementing health plan
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Good
Shepherd Health Care System
is working to implement new
programs and practices based
on data gathered through a
county-wide survey on health.
Good Shepherd and St.
Anthony Hospital in Pendle-
ton teamed up to survey Uma-
tilla County residents about
topics ranging from drug use
to diabetes. More than 750 sur-
veys about adults and children
in English and Spanish were
returned. The hospitals and
other area health organizations
have used that information
this year to each put together
their own “community health
improvement plan.”
“The goal is to work
together,” said Juli Gregory,
director of education for Good
Shepherd. “We want every-
one’s health to improve.”
She and community health
educator Jessica Reker pre-
sented Good Shepherd’s CHIP
to the Healthy Communi-
ties Coalition on Wednesday.
Based on the biggest areas of
concern in the survey results,
the focus for the plan is on
health equity, access to ser-
vices, obesity, chronic dis-
ease, violence and behavioral
health.
Reker said 71% of adults
surveyed said they have left
Umatilla County to seek
medical care. Other issues
surrounding access to care
included high numbers of
adults reporting they did not
have insurance, and/or had
visited the emergency room
for something that could have
been taken care of in a more
cost-effective setting.
Good Shepherd plans to
increase its efforts to educate
people about when it is appro-
priate to seek care at an emer-
gency room, urgent care clinic
or primary care provider.
Reker said they will also con-
tinue to recruit new physicians
to be able to serve more people
in the county, and make urgent
care more available.
“We can expand hours,”
she said.
They will also implement
“health literacy and cultural
humility” trainings for staff,
after only 72% of adults on
the English survey and 53% of
adults on the Spanish survey
said their provider explained
things in a way they can
understand.
Many of the steps Good
Shepherd is taking involve
increased community edu-
cation through free classes,
informational booths, pro-
motional materials and other
steps. For example, the com-
munity health survey found
that 58% of adults and 47%
of children drank at least one
sugar-sweetened
beverage,
such as soda, per day. Greg-
ory said in response the hospi-
tal has created a display on the
health effects of sugary drinks
and is bringing it to commu-
nity education events.
“It’s been a wow moment,”
she said. “It’s visually very
powerful when you realize
how much sugar is in one of
these drinks.”
The hospital also plans
to mail vouchers to commu-
nity members for A1c/Lipid
screenings, and create a com-
munity-wide strategic plan for
cancer prevention.
Reker said the hospital
will step up its efforts on the
“Start by Believing” public
education campaign on sex-
ual assault after 8% of adults
on the English survey and 14%
surveyed in Spanish said they
had been forced to have sex-
ual intercourse against their
will at some point in their life.
They will also integrate ques-
tions about violence and sex-
ual abuse into their intake
processes.
Reker said 17% of adults
surveyed in Umatilla County
self-reported misusing pre-
scription medications, either
by taking medicines not pre-
scribed to them or using them
with the sole intent to get high.
The hospital will work to
“ensure uniform compliance”
with its prescription policies,
she said.
As part of the commu-
nity health improvement plan,
Good Shepherd recently set
up a prescription medication
disposal box at its pharmacy.
Halloween
makeup
Staff are also being trained to
administer Naloxone, which
reverses the effects of an opi-
oid overdose, and the hospital
recently held a training that
was open to the community.
“That was well received,
and we plan to do it again,”
Gregory said.
The full community health
improvement plan can be
found online at http://www.
gshealth.org/wp-content/
uploads/gschf-cap_2019.pdf.
The results of the community
survey can be found at http://
www.gshealth.org/wp-con-
t e nt /u ploa d s / Um at i l la _
County_CHA_7-26-19.pdf.
BRIEFLY
Conrad Skinner Veterans Memorial
Appreciation Dinner draws crowd
HERMISTON — The Conrad Skinner Veterans Memo-
rial Appreciation Dinner attracted about 280 people, includ-
ing 81 veterans, according to organizers Ron Hosek and Sue
Long-Hosek.
The event on Sunday in the Hermiston Community Cen-
ter was free to veterans, their families and community mem-
bers who wished to express appreciation. Speakers included
state Sen. Bill Hansell and representatives from Rep. Greg
Walden and Sen. John Merkley’s offi ce.
During the dinner, organizers announced a special coffee
hour for veterans on Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. at Sun Terrace, 1550
N.W. 11th St. in Hermiston.
Hosek said the idea for the coffee hour, known as Dave’s
Journey, came from a fundraising golf tournament he and
Long-Hosek hosted last year. After the tournament, some
veterans started talking about their experiences in the ser-
vice with each other and ended up staying past midnight.
Long-Hosek said they hope to replicate that bonding
experience at the December event and future coffee hours.
She also said she hopes to get a similar program going for
family members of veterans to share their experiences with
each other.
For more information or to get involved, call Long-Hosek
at 509-989-0066.
Good Shepherd Health Care System
to hold community meeting
HERMISTON — Good Shepherd Health Care System
is holding its second annual community meeting next week.
The event takes place Wednesday in the Hermiston High
School commons and auditorium from 5-8 p.m. The event
will include a health fair with free fl u shots, educational
booths, food, prizes and more from 5-6 p.m.
The keynote speaker at 6 p.m. is Marcus Engel, a national
speaker, adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame
and the author of fi ve books, including “The Other End of
the Stethoscope,” which is the title of his presentation. Engel
shares his insights on improving patient care, gleaned from
his experiences after being blinded and nearly killed by a
drunken driver while in college.
After Engel’s remarks, Good Shepherd CEO Dennis
Burke will present the hospital’s annual report.
To attend the free event, RSVP to 541-667-3509 or regis-
ter online at gshcsannualcommunitymeeting.eventbrite.com.
M-F offers open house on parks
master plan Thursday
MILTON-FREEWATER — The city is presenting
another open house this week for its Parks and Recre-
ation Master Plan with information on the project, its
timeline and purpose.
The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday in the
Albee room at the Milton-Freewater Public Library, 8
S.W. Eighth Ave.
Residents are encouraged to come and share their
thoughts about how they want their future Parks and Rec-
reation facilities to look. The presentation will also show
projects done in the past and the results of a communi-
ty-wide survey.
For more information, call 541-938-8274.
— East Oregonian staff
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Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
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From the archives of the Athena Public Library, City
of Echo, Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society,
Pendleton Round-up, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute
and Umatilla County Historical Society