WEEKEND EDITION
OCTOBER 9-10, 2021
145th Year, No. 152
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
INSIDE VOLLEYBALL TEAMS DIG PINK TO RAISE BREAST CANCER AWARENESS PAGE B1
Most local
teachers
vaccinated
ahead of
deadline
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Hardin about things she knew few
would understand but her.
“We had a conversation about
how hard this was for her because
she had gotten attached to the
patient,” said Hardin. “And I was
reminded that I do this job to try
to help our nurses through these
hard moments.”
As one of St. Anthony’s three
chaplains, Hardin’s job is to walk
around the hospital and talk to
health care workers, helping
them fi nd solace and make sense
of what they witness. It’s a job
several health care workers say
has become especially critical as
they endure the pandemic’s toll.
“I do think chaplains are some
of the only people that nurses can
talk to who do understand on at
least a level what they’re deal-
ing with and what they’re going
through,” Hardin said. “Because
we’re there, and we see it.”
PENDLETON — An overwhelming
majority of Pendleton School District staff
will be vaccinated against COVID-19 by
the state’s Oct. 18 deadline. But a contin-
gent of district employees are using reli-
gious exemptions to avoid getting the shot
while keeping their jobs.
At a Tuesday, Oct. 5 school board
meeting, Superintendent Chris Fritsch
shared a report that showed nearly 9 out
of 10 education workers were vaccinated
against the virus.
C o l l e c t i v e l y,
32 staff
87.5% of district
employees are
obtained
vaccinated or will
religions
be fully vacci-
waivers to
nated by Oct. 18.
There isn’t much
the shots,
se pa r at ion i n
fi ve have
vaccination rates
between types of
medical
employees, either:
exemptions
cer tif ied staff
(teachers, coun-
selors and admin-
istrators were vaccinated at an 89.7%
rate while classifi ed staff (secretaries,
assistants, custodians, maintenance and
district offi ce staff ) had a 84.5% rate.
In an interview after the meeting,
Fritsch said the vaccination rate is higher
than expected.
“We’re in a better position than a lot of
other districts,” he said.
Although more than 10% of district
staff remained unvaccinated, most won’t
be forced out of work following the dead-
line. Thirty two staff — 15 certifi ed and
17 classifi ed — secured religious exemp-
tions to the vaccine. Another fi ve were
granted medical exemptions, although
three are only temporary.
The exemption process is spelled
out in agreements between the district
and its unions for teachers and classi-
fied staff. Religious exemptions require
an employee to write and sign a state-
ment “explaining why the employee is
requesting a religious exception, the
religious principle(s) that guide the
employees objections to the vaccina-
tion, and the religious basis that prohib-
its the COVID-19 vaccination.”
Medical exemptions require a note
from a medical provider explaining
the health condition that prevents the
employee from getting the vaccine.
Fritsch said employees with temporary
medical exemptions will be given 45 days
to get the vaccine once their exemption
ends to account for the waiting period
between shots for two dose vaccines.
See Chaplain, Page A10
See Teachers, Page A10
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Ann Marie Hardin, a hospital chaplain, poses for a portrait Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, in the chapel at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton.
A PLACE TO LAY
Hospital chaplain provides respite
for health care workers amid pandemic
SADNESS
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
P
EN DLETON — T he
patient had been fi ghting in
the intensive care unit for
weeks, and the nurse had
grown attached.
He was younger than most
COVID-19 patients admitted
to CHI St. Anthony Hospital in
Pendleton. It was August, and the
delta variant was raging through
Oregon, filling hospitals with
patients and exhausting health
care workers.
A record number of Umatilla
County residents who contracted
the virus died that month. He was
one of them.
Ann Marie Hardin, a hospi-
tal chaplain, was called in to help
with the next steps, telling the
family and the funeral home. She
turned a corner and saw the nurse,
who burst into tears and fell into
Hardin’s arms.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A list of precautions adorn the door of a COVID-19 patient Aug. 19, 2021,
in the critical care unit at St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton.
“She felt that it was such a
waste,” Hardin said. “The patient
was young. Had the patient
been vaccinated, there poten-
tially could have been a diff erent
outcome. And that was really hard
to process for her. She felt that it
shouldn’t have had to happen. He
shouldn’t have had to die. And she
looked to me as a safe place to lay
some of that sadness.”
Hardin did what she has done
throughout the pandemic — she
listened. The nurse vented to
Drop-in centers ready to help people in need
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY — Three
drop-in peer centers opened Wednes-
day, Oct. 6, cutting ribbons on a new
resource to help people suffering
addictions.
The Oregon Washington Health
Network COPES — Community
Outreach Prevention Engagement
Services — clinics in Hermiston,
Pendleton and Milton-Freewater off er
support and guidance from peers,
who are able to share their stories and
direct people to assistance, whether
that help is for addiction recovery or
not. Some people may want assistance
in making their addictions less prob-
lematic, and other people will want aid
for dealing with family members who
are addicts.
“We want everyone who comes
here to feel loved,” said Kathleen
Pollard, one of the Hermiston center’s
peer mentors.
Bill Bernard, a certifi ed recovery
mentor at Pendleton’s COPES Clinic,
said he is grateful for the opportunity
to help others confront their addic-
tions.
Bernard, who has been clean for
the last seven and a half years, said he
remembers feeling the way his clients
do and feeling hopeless.
“I’m going to give you a hand up
and out of that gutter,” he said.
Bernard recalled cold nights living
on the streets of Eugene, bathing in the
Willamette River and trips in and out
of the detox center as he experienced
homelessness and drug addiction.
See Centers, Page A10
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Bill Bernard, a certifi ed recovery mentor and certifi ed gambling recovery men-
tor, walks through the newly opened COPES Clinic on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, in
Pendleton. The Oregon Washington Health Network operates the clinic, which
serves to provide recovery assistance and mentorship to those experiencing
addiction, whether that assistance is for recovery or not.