OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
East Oregonian
Blood:
School:
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Health Care System, Herm-
iston.
“Community support
of American Red Cross
blood drives is essential
to return our blood supply
to pre-COVID minimum
stocking numbers,” she said.
“We especially need O-neg-
ative donors. This is one way
you can serve your commu-
nity and help ensure a stable
blood supply for local hospi-
tals.”
It is unclear to what
degree the pandemic has
affected the amount of blood
donations. Some areas, such
as La Grande and Baker
City, have experienced an
uptick in donations this
year in comparison to other
areas in the region. Still, the
American Red Cross noted
that nationwide blood dona-
tions have gone down 10%
since the beginning of the
pandemic.
“We have experienced
critical blood supply issues
in the past months. We have
had no units of O-negative
on the shelf two times and
zero O-positive one time,”
said Ronda Reisdorph,
a laboratory manager at
Hermiston’s Good Shep-
herd Medical Center. “We
have been running with less
than minimum thresholds in
the past few months and no
chance for restocking even
with emergent cases.”
W hile the medical
center expects to receive an
increased supply over the
coming weeks to supple-
ment its stockpile due,
there’s no indication that the
national blood shortage will
improve in the near future.
The American Red Cross
supplies approximately 40%
of the nation’s blood supply,
according to the organi-
zation, and some hospi-
tals might receive as little
as 25% of their requested
blood supplies in the coming
weeks. Hospitals normally
keep a steady supply of
blood for routine procedures
but can request more in the
event of a mass casualty or
injury event.
Since much of the blood
that arrives in hospitals
comes from the arms of
local community members,
due to the large turnout for
Union County blood drives,
some local hospitals have
fared better in the national
crisis.
Mardi Ford, direc-
tor of communications at
ing declining enrollment,
deferred facility maintenance,
high school athletic reclassifi-
cation and salary issues with
classified staff. The adminis-
trators and board members at
the meeting argued the chal-
lenges implied the district’s
situation was much more dire
than it was.
“I feel like it’s painting a
financial crisis picture with
those things,” said Matt Yosh-
ioka, the district’s director of
curriculum instruction and
assessment. “Maybe it could
be worded differently. Because
we’re not in a financial crisis
as a district. We’re in a good
spot.”
Administrators took issue
with the material on salary
issues for classified staff and
noncertified staff, such as
educational assistants, custodi-
ans and front office personnel.
When factoring in classified
employees’ benefits package,
the administrators said the
district’s financial offerings
were competitive with other
jobs in the community.
“That just seems like some-
body was grumpy about their
paycheck,” Yoshioka said.
He added the district was
able to fill all of its vacant
teaching positions last year, an
accomplishment many other
districts couldn’t meet, but
admitted that classified posi-
tions were more of a “revolv-
ing door.”
Hernandez said many of
the challenges they listed were
drawn from comments from
multiple sources. While he
wanted the district to be open
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ally works out to around
$150,000.
When possible, Cycle
Oregon also makes an effort
to hire local service providers
and entertainers.
“We’re trying to utilize
as much as possible from the
communities without over-
burdening them,” Schulz said.
Altogether, he estimated,
the total economic impact
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Jake Yoste, a phlebotomy technician with the American Red Cross, explains the blood do-
nation process to Elena Nightingale at the community blood drive Jan. 25, 2022, at The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in La Grande. The Red Cross reports its blood
supply is the lowest in more than a decade.
Grande Ronde Hospital, La
Grande, credited the work
of husband and wife duo
Linda and Sheldon Strand,
who run La Grande’s Amer-
ican Red Cross blood drives,
as a key factor in ensuring
Grande Ronde Hospital has
an adequate blood supply.
Ford said the hospital works
closely with the American
Red Cross and has an inter-
nal system that is used to
track blood supply levels.
Ford said the hospital
has only had a couple of
instances in the past few
years where blood supplies
reached critical levels.
“We are proactive in
making sure that we have
what we need to serve our
patients,” she said. “That’s
one of the beauties of being
small and independent. We
have options on how we’re
able to do things.”
Wa l l o w a
Memo-
rial Hospital, Enterprise,
recently received shipments
where the requested blood
supply was not provided.
“Fortunately, we work
with the Red Cross on a
blood rotation to keep us at
optimal levels and have held
on to a supply of the shorted
products,” said Brooke Pace,
director of communications
and public relations. “We do
this to ensure that nothing
is wasted because of outdat-
ing. We can still transfer
units to regional hospitals in
our area if dating becomes a
concern.”
Stefa n ie Dav id son,
Wallowa Memorial Hospi-
tal’s lab director, urged resi-
dents to donate blood amid
the growing national short-
age, even as local supplies
remain steady.
“Even though we still
have an above critical
supply, the national short-
age is a concern, and we
would like to encourage
anyone who can to get out
and donate,” she said.
Pendleton’s CHI St.
Anthony Hospital fared
better than other hospitals in
the region, according to the
hospital’s president, Harold
Geller, who noted the hospi-
tal was well stocked.
“There is always a
concern, pandemic or not,”
he said. “We here at St.
Anthony have taken steps
to be prepared as best as
possible.”
Even still, the hospi-
tal president did not mince
words about the national
shortage.
“Please donate blood,” he
said. “Now.”
The blood crisis also
has renewed an effort by
lawmakers to change the
rules regarding donations by
those in the LGBT commu-
nity.
Senators from across the
nation signed a letter on Jan.
14 urging the Food and Drug
Administration to change
the rules to allow men in
same-sex relationships to
donate blood. In total, 22
senators signed their names
to the letter, including
Democratic Oregon Sens.
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merk-
ley.
“In light of the nation’s
urgent blood supply crisis
and to ensure that Ameri-
cans have access to life-sav-
ing blood transfusions
during the pandemic, we
urge you to swiftly update
your current blood donor
deferral policies in favor of
ones that are grounded in
science, based on individ-
ualized risk factors, and
allow all potentially eligi-
ble donors to do so free of
stigma,” the senators wrote
Department of Health and
Human Services Secretary
Xavier Becerra and FDA
Acting Commissioner Janet
Woodcock.
In 1983, the federal
government placed a life-
time ban on gay men from
donating blood, at the height
of the HIV/AIDS scares of
the 1980s. Those rules were
relaxed in 2015 by requiring
one year of abstinence, and
then reduced further to three
months in 2020.
The letter noted that
advances in testing technol-
ogies would allow for gay
and bisexual men to safely
donate blood, and criticized
the time-based guidelines
that perpetuates stereotypes.
“It is critical that all
patients have access to the
health care services they
need during this pandemic,
and for many, the availability
of blood and blood products
is a necessary component
of care,” the letter said.
“Unfortunately, a significant
drop in the number of dona-
tions during the COVID-19
pandemic has resulted in a
serious shortage of available
blood.”
from the Classic would be
in the range of $400,000-
$450,000.
Getting ready, Mayor Ron
Lundbom said that event was
a boon for John Day and he
expects this year’s ride will
be as well.
“If it’s half as big as the last
time they were here, it’s going
to be great,” he said.
Local officials have been
in touch with Cycle Oregon
about the 2022 Classic since
last fall but were asked to
keep the discussions under
wraps until this year’s ride
was officially announced.
A lot of details still have
to be worked out, including
where the group will pitch its
tents on the first night of the
event. John Day City Manager
Nick Green said he suggested
the Hill Family Park, the
Grant County Fairgrounds
and the Seventh Street Sports
Complex as possible camp-
sites.
Green predicted the event
will be an economic windfall
for the city, with Cycle Oregon
participants shopping in local
stores and eating in local
restaurants, not to mention
the stipends to community
groups.
But he also sees it as a
chance to showcase John Day
to people from all over the
state and beyond.
“Some of them could be
potential residents and busi-
ness owners, people who
would say, ‘Hey, I like this
place — I want to stay,” he
said. “They bring a lot of
folks to the area, and I think
it’s important for us to be good
hosts and show them a good
time.”
Changing the rules
Masks:
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Oregonians who have died.
OHA officials say the
indoor mask mandate could
lift sooner if hospitaliza-
tions decline at a faster rate
than expected. Officials also
recommend high-risk indi-
viduals continue wearing
masks indoors, including
people who haven’t been
vaccinated and those with
compromised immunities.
OHA’s announcement
soon puts masking rules back
into the hands of businesses
or employers.
More than 100 people
testified during a recent
public hearing on the indoor
mask rule, with several folks
asking the state to drop the
indoor mask requirement
immediately.
A hearing on the mask
requirement in schools last
month yielded a similar
response, but the Oregon
Health Authority made its
school mask requirement
permanent as the temporary
rule expired.
With the announcement,
that rule now has an end date:
March 31.
A9
about its challenges, he would
defer to the board on what it
wanted to include in the super-
intendent recruitment materi-
als. The board changed the
language on employee salary
to more generalized mate-
rial on employee recruitment,
hiring and retention.
Using board and admin-
istrator input, Jordan and
Hernandez added, dropped
and revised the brochure and
list of challenges. Among
the new additions was some
language about improving
relationships with Pendleton’s
Latino community, a grow-
ing segment of the district’s
student body.
Hernandez thanked board
members for their input,
adding that whatever chal-
lenges Pendleton was facing,
they weren’t as bad as many
other districts in the North-
west.
“You take a look at the chal-
lenges, they’re not so over-
whelming as they are in some
districts right now,” he said. “In
some of the districts Bill and
I are helping — trust with the
community and disarray and
the board and so on — we don’t
sense that here.”
The school board needs to
fill the district’s chief executive
role after Superintendent Chris
Fritsch announced in Novem-
ber he intended to retire at the
end of June. Superintendent
applications are due March 4
with the board expecting to
hold preliminary interviews
at the end of the month. After
finalists are interviewed April
4-6, the board anticipates
announcing its selection on
April 7.
If everything goes accord-
ing to plan, the next superin-
tendent will start July 1.
The next eight weeks will
give “school districts time
to prepare,” OHA officials
said. There also may be new
guidance from the Oregon
Department of Education to
keep schools operating as
mask rules change.
Sidelinger said state offi-
cials will continue to promote
universal masking as part of
the mitigation efforts that
have kept schools open,
which reflects current guid-
ance from the Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion.
Like the general indoor
mask mandate, Sidelinger
said the mask requirement
for K-12 settings may be
lifted sooner than March 31
depending on COVID-19
conditions.
“By having a date several
weeks out in the future, this
will give our local education
partners a chance to prepare,
if they want to implement
requirements of their own at
the community level based
on conditions that they see,
to make other changes that
they may need to make to be
able to track individuals who
are exposed or out sick, and
other things that right now
depend on universal masks
in schools,” he said.
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