OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Hospitals:
Continued from Page A1
Absent was any reference on
how to score or triage in concrete
terms should hospitals face a critical
shortage of resources.
“Oregon had crisis care guide-
lines in place for many years, but
in September of 2020 OHA deter-
mined that it would no longer refer-
ence them because of the potential
for their use to perpetuate discrim-
ination and health inequities,” Rudy
Owens, a spokesperson with the
OHA, wrote in an email.
In response, hospitals in East-
ern Oregon developed their own
plans. Grande Ronde Hospital in
Union County developed a standard
for incidents in which resources
become scarce, but has not yet had
to use it. Instead, Grande Ronde has
been operating well under general-
ized operational emergency guide-
lines, according to Mardi Ford, the
hospital’s director of communica-
tions and marketing.
“We have had a strong commit-
ment to emergency planning here
for years and that has served us
well,” Ford said in an email. “We are
all really well trained now on oper-
ating under (our) Hospital Incident
Command System.”
As well, Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital in Wallowa County
wrote its own standard of crisis
care guidelines in late 2020, when
the previous statewide care guide-
lines were relinquished, accord-
ing to Communications and Public
Relations Director Brooke Pace.
Those new guidelines take equity
Media:
Continued from Page A1
A national dilemma
Recent revelations from
Facebook whistleblower
Frances Haugen and a Wall
Street Journal investigation
that sparked national outrage
has reinvigorated discussions
over how the platforms infl u-
ence teenage mental health.
The revelations, uncov-
ered through a trove of the
company’s internal docu-
ments, show that leader-
ship among the social media
giants knew for years that
platforms such as Instagram
were having serious eff ects
on the mental well-being of
teens — especially young
women. Yet the company
chose not to disclose that
information and has made
meager eff orts to stop it.
Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, D, called Haugen’s
Senate testimony “a great
public service” in reveal-
i ng how
platfor ms
like Face-
book a nd
Instagram
use private
information
to manipu-
Wyden
late young
consumers, a practice he
describes as “predatory.”
“These are impres-
sionable young people,”
Wyden told the Hermiston
Herald, adding that Face-
book is “taking advantage of
them.”
Wyden, a proponent
of digital privacy legisla-
tion, is pushing forward the
Algorithmic Accountabil-
ity Act, which requires that
companies audit “high-risk
systems” such as artifi cial
intelligence for decisions
that contribute to harmful
content. The act is meant to
curb the spread of misinfor-
mation, bias or discrimina-
tion, and he said he believes it
will attain bipartisan support.
But the activity in Wash-
ington, D.C., only hints at
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
A thin plastic sheet separates the intensive care unit from the COVID-19
ward at Grande Ronde Hospital, La Grande, on Aug. 30, 2021. The rate
of infection in Eastern Oregon remains steady, and individual hospitals
are left with the task of implementing their own crisis care standards.
and inclusion into consideration,
according to Pace.
Pace, like Ford, noted the hospi-
tal has not had to implement those
standards of care.
While not mandated, the new
Oregon Health Authority guidance
tells hospitals to ignore or dimin-
ish long-standing principles when
it comes to rationing care, includ-
ing maximizing life-years saved —
years of quality life remaining if a
patient receives care and recovers.
Instead, the new document assesses
only in terms of likelihood of
surviving their current illness until
hospital discharge — even if that
patient is terminally ill.
Supporting documents to the
new OHA document include an
article by Dr. John R. Stone, a
bioethicist with the Department of
Medicine, School of Medicine at
Creighton University in Omaha,
Nebraska.
“Past and continued injustices
are strong reasons why potential
life-years saved should not infl u-
ence triage priorities for individ-
uals who prospectively will likely
survive more than a few months
after hospitalization,” Stone
contends in the paper.
Stone uses a scenario in which
an elderly, disenfranchised patient
who belongs to a group of histori-
cally oppressed individuals relin-
quishes care to a younger, more
privileged individual who belongs
to a group of oppressors, and would
have more expected life-years after
receiving care.
To be clear, the previous Oregon
Crisis Care Guidance protocol
made explicit that factors such as
race and ethnicity are not accept-
able criteria to consider in making
triage decisions. Stone, in his arti-
cle, addressed as much by saying
he was not aware of any crisis care
standard documents that would
even consider making such criteria
East Oregonian
a factor in medical decisions.
“To my knowledge, published
triage models and related analy-
ses explicitly or implicitly incorpo-
rate social justice and background
concepts of respect for persons and
their equal and substantial worth.
My stress on the justice- respect-
worth framework does not imply
otherwise. I presume that all value
these core moral precepts,” Stone
wrote.
The new guidance from the
Oregon Health Authority, published
December 2020, refl ects those prin-
ciples but declines to give specifi cs
regarding when exclusion of care
might apply, save for small inci-
dences in which patients brings
their own ventilators to the hospital.
The document encourages
hospitals to create their own rubrics
for scoring patients. Commonly,
these scores are based on patients’
ability to survive should health care
to the patient be abruptly stopped —
such as the “sequential organ failure
assessment.” There is no mention of
vaccination status within the guide-
lines, and the SOFA makes note of
COVID-19 status but does not use
it for scoring patients.
“We want to ensure there’s a
foundation of health equity that
informs these diffi cult decisions
and that hospitals are using tools
that are transparent and informed
by input from their community,”
wrote Owens, representing OHA.
“Second, we plan to bring commu-
nity leaders and providers together
to continue to look at practical tools
for clinicians and hospitals that
incorporate these non-discrimina-
tion principles.”
Support:
Continued from Page A1
“We always try to gear it towards a
kid,” said Hendricks, who has three boys
and a fourth child on the way.
On a clear Saturday, Oct. 9, people
wandered around the pumpkin patch
through knee-high vines. Volunteers
and family members handed out clippers
for people to cut pumpkins off the vines
and helped carry them back across the
uneven ground. White, green and orange
pumpkins were loaded into all-terrain
vehicles and carted to the checkout.
The Rakestraws chatted with people
in the field. Mikayla carried Parker
around the grounds as her daugh-
ter Blakely bounced around. Youths
from McLoughlin High School’s FFA
program helped maneuver pumpkins.
Hendricks said the fundraisers also
benefi t her sons.
“It teaches them to give back and not
be so greedy with money,” she said, “and
to give to charities and to see the light of
the people you give it to.”
Rakestraw said she sincerely appreci-
ates the fundraiser, but added that such
generosity is overwhelming. She said
she and her husband are not very good at
accepting help, and she doesn’t feel like
she deserves it.
“I don’t know how to describe the
feeling,” she said. “We’re very grateful,
but also I feel bad that we are in need
of help.”
Hendricks said the family plans to
keep the patch open for a few more week-
ends to raise more money. The patch is at
84978 Edwards Road, Milton-Freewater.
———
East Oregonian reporter Ben Loner-
gan contributed to this feature.
what teens are experienc-
ing in rural Eastern Oregon.
Teens, counselors, school
district offi cials and politi-
cal fi gures around Umatilla
County said although social
media has impacted teen-
age mental health for years,
the toll has worsened during
the pandemic. All that has
shifted is the question of
who’s to blame.
Teens, counselors
speak out
“I feel social media has
made unrealistic standards
for what people should look
like or be like,” said Jara
Montez, a 17-year-old senior
at Umatilla High School.
Montez estimated she
spends about seven or eight
hours a day on social media.
She checks the apps between
classes. Like Lucas, she
enjoys the connection she
feels to her friends and
family, but said she feels
worse about herself while
watching attractive people on
TikTok and other platforms.
Montez lamented that
staying on social media is
“just a thing that kids do
nowadays.” Other students
don’t typically talk about
how the apps are aff ecting
their mental health. She said
she thinks she could quit if
she wanted to, but it would
be diffi cult. That’s where all
her friends are.
“I would really love and
enjoy life without social
media,” she said.
Maddie St uvland, a
counselor at Pendleton High
School who meets with the
school’s junior and fresh-
man class, said social media
has increasingly become a
regular part of daily discus-
sions with the students she
sees. She said her students
often are surprised when she
points out social media might
be having a negative eff ect on
their mental well-being.
“I think they’re a bit
shocked,” she said. “They’re
not aware that it’s aff ecting
their mental health. There
really isn’t anything out there
that informs young girls or
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Jara Montez poses for a portrait during a passing period Monday, Oct. 11, 2021, at Umatilla
High School in Umatilla. Montez, like other youths, uses social media to connect to friends,
yet also feels some platforms hurt her quality of life.
young boys about the impact
it has.”
They express feelings
of inferiority when view-
ing platforms such as Insta-
gram, where they compare
themselves through what
she calls “a highlight reel.”
She said high usage of social
media platforms are driving
some students to stay up later
which, in turn, impacts their
mental health and education.
“You’re always post-
ing things that you’re either
accomplishing or things that
you’re proud of and there are
fi lters and you always have a
smile on your face,” she said.
“And it’s not realistic. They
don’t see any of the hardship
or diffi culty.”
Stuvland said she sees
more teens acknowledging
the negative eff ects of social
media today. But the plat-
forms remain too good to be
true, explaining that among
many infl uencers and blog-
gers, “there’s not an image or
post that’s not perfect.”
“The negative eff ects are
outweighing the positive
eff ects, at least in teens,” said
Dee Lorence, a counselor at
Umatilla High School, who
said the apps are causing
her students to experience
depression, anxiety and
isolation. “Keeping it inside,
or keeping it to ourselves, is
not helping in any situation.
If we’re concerned about
something, we must find
someone we know and trust
and will give good advice.”
Nick Allen is a professor
of clinical psychology and
the director of the Center for
Digital Health at the Univer-
sity of Oregon. For years, he
studied the mental health of
young people.
“When you look at mental
health across the lifespan,
you see that this period from
12 to 24, that’s the period
where the vast majority of
people are going to have
mental health diffi culties,”
he said. “That’s when it
emerges. It’s the most critical
time in life for understanding
prevention and early inter-
vention for mental health
problems.”
Recently, the way social
media impacts teenage
A7
mental health has entered the
forefront of Allen’s research.
The arrival of social
media enabled kids to enter
entire worlds of largely
uncensored information
without parental oversight,
he said. For some, those plat-
forms promoted growth and
gratifi cation. They helped
well-off teens gain friends
and notoriety. They provided
marginalized young people a
way to connect with commu-
nities they never could
before.
But for some vulnera-
ble students, cyberbullying,
anxiety, depression, fear of
missing out — or FOMO—
and an endless fl ood of infor-
mation left them feeling
overwhelmed, he said.
“It’s a real mix,” Allen
said.
There are multiple factors
that influence the impact
social media has on mental
health, none of which are
new, Allen said. Using the
apps during the day is typi-
cally less harmful overall
than at night, he said. Active
usage like posting things is
better than passive usage, or
scrolling.
But what is lacking, he
said, is any sort of disclaimer
warning users about the risk.
Much like the automobile
industry, he said social media
companies need to do a better
job of making people aware
of the possible harm that
could come from extended
use of the platforms.
“Over time, there’s been
regulation, there’s been
safety measures, and cars
are much safer than they
used to be,” he said. “I
think social media is going
to be a very similar story
… Initially, the compa-
nies don’t want to admit it.
But when they do admit it
and the government starts
putting proper regulations
and safety features, then
we’ll be in a better place
and we’ll be able to enjoy
the benefi ts of social media
and minimize the risk.”
Lucas, the 16-year-old
student from Hermiston,
said she wants to encourage
more people to talk about
their mental health and the
eff ects social media have on
it. A self-described mental
health advocate, she said she
believes little can be done to
change the platforms them-
selves. But what she can help
change, she said, is the rela-
tionships her peers have to
social media.
“This is equally good and
equally horrible,” Lucas said
of social media. “The only
way to solve the issues would
be to get rid of the mean
people, get rid of people who
are bad, get rid of insecurity.
But that’s impossible. I don’t
think there are changes that
can be made. This will be
the way this is until there’s
another cultural shift.”
Oregon Department
of Transportation
I-84 Frontage Road: Meacham Creek
and UPRR Bridge Closure
The Oregon Department of Transportation is
closing the Meacham Frontage Road Bridge for
geological drilling operations.
Closure begins October 13.
Closure ends October 15.
TRAVEL IMPACTS: Frontage Road will be closed
at the bridge. Detour signs will guide travelers
around the closed section.
PURPOSE AND NEED: This reinforced concrete
deck girder bridge was built in 1925. Extensive
deterioration, increasing maintenance costs and
potential safety concerns require a complete
bridge replacement. ODOT is scheduled to begin
construction in the spring of 2023. Engineers will
use soil samples taken during drilling operations
to determine appropriate materials, size and depth
of new bridge footings.
We greatly appreciate your support and cooperation during this project.
For more information on other eastern Oregon highway construction projects,
contact Tom Strandberg at (541) 963-1330, email: thomas.m.strandberg@odot.state.or.us.
For update road conditions check TripCheck.com or call 511, or (800) 977-6368.