NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, August 7, 2021
Vaccines required for employees at Providence health system
By SHEILA HAGAR
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA — Provi-
dence St. Mary Medical Center and
Providence Medical Group offi-
cials announced Thursday, Aug.
5, that caregivers employed by the
organizations must be vaccinated
against COVID-19 by Sept. 30.
The announcement follows the
statement earlier this week from
the Washington State Hospital
Association supporting COVID-
19 vaccination requirements for
health care workers.
St. Mary spokesperson Kath-
leen Obenland said the mandate
is for all Providence caregivers
in Washington, including Walla
Walla.
Patient care employees will be
required to show proof of vaccina-
tion. Those who cannot be vacci-
nated must sign a declaration of that
and follow additional protocols,
including enhanced COVID-19
testing, mandatory vaccine-re-
lated education and discussions, as
well as other infection-prevention
requirements in accordance with
facility policy, federal, state and
local public health mandates.
Indoor masking also remains in
effect in Providence hospitals and
clinics.
Providence is one of the largest
health systems in the nation. The
move comes as the organization
is seeing the delta variant driv-
ing patient volumes up once again
and unvaccinated people account-
ing for the vast majority of Provi-
Walla Walla Union Bulletin, File
Pharmacists, from left, Amanda Johnson, Belinda Grimm and Dalari Allington of Providence St. Mary Medical
Center, Walla Walla, prepare the COVID-19 vaccine for injection in January 2021.
dence’s COVID-19 patients.
In Walla Walla, the renewed
surge in the virus is making it more
likely patients with illnesses and
injuries will be transferred to other
hospitals, “if there are any with
capacity,” Obenland said. “Partic-
ularly if the patient needs an inten-
sive care bed.”
That can make a medical situa-
tion extraordinarily expensive for
patients, but sometimes there is no
other available option than to trans-
fer elsewhere, she said.
While the hospital’s Southgate
Medical Park is set up as an over-
flow space for COVID-19 patients,
it only will be used as a last resort.
For example, if St. Mary could
not contain any more patients,
it couldn’t transfer patients out
because other hospitals also were
at capacity and if it appeared the
situation would continue for a
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Mostly sunny and
nice
Periods of sun;
breezy, nice
Sunny, pleasant
and warmer
Breezy in the a.m.;
mostly sunny
Very hot with
clouds and sun
88° 58°
75° 53°
91° 62°
78° 54°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
83° 58°
98° 72°
92° 64°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
87° 56°
101° 70°
95° 62°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
67/55
81/56
87/57
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
89/61
Lewiston
71/57
91/66
Astoria
65/55
Pullman
Yakima 86/59
68/51
91/66
Portland
Hermiston
79/58
The Dalles 91/62
Salem
Corvallis
79/53
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
88/57
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
86/56
85/54
90/59
Ontario
93/67
Caldwell
Burns
90°
69°
94°
59°
103° (2019) 46° (1969)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
81/53
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
94/65
0.00"
0.00"
0.03"
1.93"
1.66"
5.17"
WINDS (in mph)
89/61
90/55
Trace
0.01"
0.06"
4.37"
8.68"
8.37"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 85/54
82/55
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
88/58
85/62
87°
67°
91°
60°
108° (1905) 36° (1909)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
68/53
Aberdeen
82/57
83/59
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
69/54
Today
Sun.
WSW 8-16
W 7-14
W 8-16
WSW 10-20
prolonged period of time, she said.
Obenland said there are multi-
ple reasons for the policy, espe-
cially staffing issues.
“The challenge is not just about
available beds. It’s about the team
of health care professionals needed
to staff those beds. Staffing at St.
Mary is very tight, and, like most
other businesses, we are facing
recruitment challenges.”
With nearly every other hospital
in the nation experiencing the same
shortages, it would not be possible
to rapidly hire a whole new team,
and putting employees at Southgate
would require St. Mary to pause
numerous medical services to free
up staff, pull in clinic employees
and undertake other measures to
create a care team for the Southgate
beds, Obenland explained.
Dr. Rod Hochman, president
and CEO of Providence, said
that until vaccinations reach crit-
ical mass in the United States,
“we will continue to see ongoing
outbreaks that put the most vulner-
able members of our communities
at greater risk. Having been on the
front lines since the beginning, we
know this is not sustainable for our
communities or our caregivers.
“We also know the COVID-19
vaccines remain one of the safest,
most effective tools for preventing
severe illness from the virus.”
As one of the largest health
systems in the country, Provi-
dence has the opportunity to lead
by example, Hochman said.
“That is why it’s imperative
that every caregiver get vacci-
nated against COVID-19. Not only
will it help us keep each other and
our patients safe, it will also help
ensure we are doing our part to put
the pandemic behind us,” Hoch-
man said.
Providence is placing a mora-
torium on large, indoor gatherings
and non-essential business travel
until the organization has a better
understanding of the latest wave of
COVID-19, officials also said.
County commissioners reopen
Mount Emily Recreation Area
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — All-ter-
rain vehicles are again roll-
ing at the Mount Emily
Recreation Area.
ATVs are reappearing
at MERA after the Union
County Board of Commis-
sioners voted Wednesday,
Aug. 4, to open its improved
roads and its motocross
track immediately to motor
vehicles. MERA had been
closed since July 21 because
of high fire danger due to
drought and hot weather.
The roads opened are
Road 201, known as Main-
line; Road 202-Mount Emily
Road; Road 203-Highline
Road and Road 208-Easy
Out Road. These are all
rough dirt and gravel roads
with no f lammable vege-
tation. Everyone taking a
vehicle on these roads must
have an ATV permit. Only
people with four-wheel drive closed it. MER A was
vehicles with high road reopened for nonmotorized
clearance should use
activities on July 28.
these roads because
Significant fire
they are so rough,
restrictions still are
said Sean Chambers,
in place at MERA
Un ion Cou nt y’s
where no camping or
parks coordinator.
smoking is allowed.
Anyone driving
The continu-
on these roads must
ing reopening of
carry water and a
Beverage
MERA reflects the
increasing moisture
shovel because of
the Grande Ronde
O regon D e pa r t-
ment of Forestry fire
Valley has received
rules.
in recent weeks and
The motocross
coole r t e mpe r a-
trail now open again
tures. It also reflects
is near Fox Hill Road
a recent increase in
and is for motorcy-
available wildfire
cles. All motorcy-
Scarfo
fighting equipment,
cles using this trail
according to Union
also must carry a shovel and Cou nt y Com m issioner
have water close by, Cham- Donna Beverage.
bers said.
Beverage said a number of
The Aug. 4 action by firefighting vehicles belong-
the commissioners was the ing to Union County fire
second move toward fully departments had been out of
reopening MERA after the the county fighting fires but
July vote that completely have since returned.
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
89/49
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:46 a.m.
8:15 p.m.
4:25 a.m.
8:21 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
Aug 8
Aug 15
Aug 22
Aug 29
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 112° in Needles, Calif. Low 34° in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
Local Oregon Trail Segment
honored
LA GRANDE — The National Park
Service recently inducted the La Grande to
Hilgard segment of the Oregon Trail into the
National Register of Historic Places.
The trail segment was one of two local
nominations submitted in late June by the
Oregon State Advisory Committee on
Historic Preservation. The other nomina-
tion was a document detailing the history of
the Oregon trail and instructions for future
national historic nominations along the
Oregon Trail.
The committee had been working on the
nomination for the trail segment since 2018,
according to Robert Olguin, National Regis-
ter program coordinator for the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department.
However, the segment nomination could
not be submitted until the document also was
completed, which had been in the works since
2012.
“There’s a few reasons it took so long,”
Olguin said. “There has been staffing issues,
with turnover, and there’s no specific timeline
for submitting these. And also, several times,
the National Park Service would get a draft
and send it back for revisions.”
The La Grande to Hilgard trail segment,
which extends for 3.6 miles, is one section
of the Oregon Trail that still has physical
evidence of the original trail. The trail follows
a stream before reaching a steep incline, one
of the steepest sections of the trail in Oregon,
according to a statement from the Oregon
Parks and Rec department.
The trail originally was used by passenger
stagecoaches and freighters carrying mining
equipment, food and agricultural materials
and other commodities, the statement said.
The National Register of Historic Places
recognizes sites that “identify, evaluate, and
protect America’s historic and archeological
resources,” according to its website. There
are more than 95,000 individual listings on
the register’s database.
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