A6
OREGON
East Oregonian
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Nurses would get more support under Oregon legislative plan
By SAM STITES
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — In a rare show
of vigorous bipartisanship, the
Oregon House of Representa-
tives unanimously approved
a bill on Friday, Feb. 25, to
support nurses and address
the state’s ongoing nursing
staff shortage.
If approved by the Senate,
House Bill 4003 would direct
the state to issue nursing
intern licenses to students
meeting certain qualifica-
tions and allow them to prac-
tice under the supervision of a
registered nurse.
It would allow nursing
interns to receive pay and
school credit if their insti-
tution allows, and it would
expand programs support-
ing the mental health and
overall wellness of nurses in
Oregon’s health care industry.
It also extends a provision put
in place by the state during
the pandemic allowing emer-
gency licensure of nurses for
an additional 90 days follow-
ing the end of Oregon’s public
health emergency declaration
on April 1.
The proposal comes from
Rep. Rachel Prusak, D-West
Linn, who is a nurse. She
worked with groups repre-
senting nurses and health
care workers to craft the bill
in response to staffi ng short-
ages and challenges nurses
are facing that were identifi ed
before the pandemic and have
worsened during the COVID-
19 crisis.
“I have seen firsthand
the stress this pandemic has
placed on our already over-
burdened health care system,
and I knew the Legislature
had to take action to avoid
further depleting our health
care workers,” Prusak said.
According to a 2018 anal-
ysis by the Oregon Employ-
ment Department, Oregon
was projected to need an addi-
tional 2,600 nurses each year
over the next decade to replace
those leaving the industry.
Data from 2019 shows the
state’s nursing programs
produced only around 1,500
new nurses ready to enter the
workforce that year.
The pandemic has placed
additional pressure on schools
to produce more nurses and
hospitals to fi nd ways to retain
them.
The bill has the support
of several statewide organi-
zations representing nurses
and health care workers,
including the Oregon Nurses
Association, Oregon Associ-
ation of Hospitals and Health
Systems, Oregon Center for
Nursing and Oregon Primary
Care Association.
Diane Solomon, a psychi-
atric mental health nurse
practitioner representing the
Oregon Nurses Association,
told lawmakers earlier this
month that Oregon is “hemor-
rhaging” nurses.
“HB 4003 will help meet
the needs of recruitment, as
well as retention of a veteran,
experienced workforce with
essential skills,” Solomon
said. “Funding expansion of
the successful Oregon Well-
ness Program to include
nurses will absolutely off er
intensely needed mental
health care. In this way, nurses
will be able to keep working
without sacrifi cing their own
health and mental health.”
Prusak said she was proud
to have shepherded the bill
through the House with such
widespread support, and she’s
confi dent it will have the same
warm reception in the Senate.
Rep. Travis Nelson,
D-North Portland — a fellow
nurse and one of the Legis-
lature’s newest members —
said the past two years have
been devastating for nurses
on the front lines fighting
COVID-19.
He said this bill will make
both short- and long-term
progress in providing solu-
tions for the nursing staff
crisis in Oregon.
It now heads to the Senate
for consideration. Lawmak-
ers have until March 7 to
pass bills.
Permits to be required to drive the Lawmakers pass bill banning sale
Historic Columbia River Highway of exotic animals for consumption
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
By JAMIE HALE
The Oregonian
SALEM — Looking to
take a drive along the Historic
Columbia River Highway this
summer? You’ll need a permit
for that.
Timed entry permits will
be required along the “water-
fall corridor” of the scenic
Columbia River Gorge high-
way between May 24 and
Sept. 5, 2022, the Oregon
Department of Transportation
announced Feb. 22.
Drivers will need to show
their permits at one of three
checkpoints set up between
Crown Point and Ainsworth
State Park. Those cycling
along the highway, taking
public transportation or on a
tour, will not need a permit.
Other parking fees will still
apply at recreation areas along
the corridor.
Details, including how
much the permits will cost
and how many will be sold,
are still being worked out,
department spokesperson Don
Hamilton said. People will be
able to buy permits online in
advance, though a limited
number of same-day permits
will also be made available.
The new permits are an
eff ort to curb crowds along
the scenic highway, which
gives access to famous land-
marks like the Vista House,
popular hikes at Angel’s Rest
and Wahkeena Falls, as well
as viewpoints at several other
waterfalls, including Latourell
Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and
Horsetail Falls.
“This is a modest step to
help address an increasingly
serious problem,” Hamilton
said. “Everybody knows how
bad the congestion has been
getting in the gorge, especially
in the waterfall corridor.”
The area is known to fi ll
with cars on sunny week-
ends in spring and summer,
and people have been known
to leave their vehicles parked
precariously on the side of the
highway when parking lots
get full. In recent years, local
sheriff ’s offi ces have begun
towing cars parked illegally
around scenic areas, espe-
cially in the Columbia Gorge
and on Mount Hood.
Bend Bulletin, File
SALEM — Oregon’s
regulator y system for
importing livestock won’t
be affected by a recently
approved bill intended to
thwart diseases that pass
from animals to humans.
House Bill 4128, which
was approved by the Senate
on Feb. 21 after earlier pass-
ing the House, would ban
the sale of exotic wildlife
for human consumption,
among other changes.
Washington and Califor-
nia also are strengthening
rules against the introduc-
tion of zoonotic diseases, so
Oregon must avoid becom-
ing a point of entry on the
West Coast, said Rep. Ken
Helm, D-Beaverton, chair
of the House Agricul-
ture, Land Use and Water
Committee.
“This is a bill that tries
to get ahead of a potential
problem,” he said.
The current coronavirus
pandemic sprang from such
human contact with wild-
life, but many past disease
outbreaks have also been
zoonotic in origin, Helm
said.
However, the require-
ments included in HB 4128
don’t implicate conventional
livestock, which is regulated
by the Oregon Department
of Agriculture.
“We already have very
adequate control over live-
stock,” he said. “This bill
expressly does not attempt
to regulate those species of
ODA’s process, because it’s
just unnecessary.”
The U.S. is one of
the world’s top wildlife
importers, representing
20% of the global wildlife
market, said Quinn Read,
Oregon policy director for
the Center for Biological
Diversity nonprofi t.
“This just creates an
awful lot of opportunity
for disease to spread from
animals to humans,” she
said.
The bill is just one
component of a broader
strategy to prevent future
zoonotic disease problems,
Read said. “Oregon can’t
do it alone but the federal
government and neighbor-
ing states can’t do it without
Oregon.”
Mary Anne Cooper, vice
president of government
aff airs for the Oregon Farm
Bureau, said she appreciated
that lawmakers ensured HB
4128 didn’t have unintended
consequences for the live-
stock industry.
“It has been narrowly
crafted to avoid impacts
to agricultural animal use,
to fish and seafood and
other markets we have in
the state for farm-raised
or wild-caught animals,”
Cooper said.
Visiting Multnomah Falls, Oregon’s tallest waterfall, by
vehicle could require obtaining a new permit. The Oregon
Department of Transportation last week announced a new
timed-entry permit system along the “waterfall corridor” of
the Columbia River Gorge highway.
In the Columbia Gorge,
where land is managed by
the U.S. Forest Service, the
Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department and Washington
State Parks, as well as some
local parks departments, offi -
cials have been gradually
taking new measures to curb
overcrowding and illegal park-
ing.
In 2018, the U.S. Forest
Service started requiring
permits at Dog Mountain,
a popular hiking spot on
the Washington side of the
Columbia Gorge, after limit-
ing space in the parking lot
and cracking down on illegal
parking on the side of Wash-
ington state Highway 14.
In 2020, the Forest Service
began a permitting system to
visit Multnomah Falls during
the busy summer season,
off ering 500 tickets for each
one-hour time slot between
9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Permits are typically
waived for those who take
public or private mass trans-
portation to the Columbia
Gorge, and services have
increased as agencies have
introduced new permitting
systems. The Sasquatch Shut-
tle is one option for the water-
fall corridor along the historic
highway, while the Colum-
bia River Express runs along
Interstate 84 between Portland
and Hood River, stopping off
at Multnomah Falls. The Dog
Mountain Shuttle takes hikers
to the trailhead from down-
town Stevenson.
While the new system may
rankle some people who are
used to driving freely along
the Historic Columbia River
Highway, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation said
the permits will ultimately
create a more enjoyable expe-
rience.
“This is Oregon’s crown
jewel, the gorge, and we’ve
got to make sure that we can
provide access and we can
provide a way to keep it a good
and eff ective and safe experi-
ence for people,” Hamilton
said. “I think people are going
to fi nd a better and smoother
experience in the gorge when
we get this going.”
ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL &
OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY
WEDNESDAYS
11AM TO 2PM
ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL
2801 ST ANTHONY WAY - PENDLETON
NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED
ESTIMATED RESULT TIME 2-4 DAYS
Closes March 12th
FOREVER!
After serving Pendleton
for 20 years, it is
time to retire.
FINAL DAYS! NO REASONABLE OFFERS REFUSED
EVERYTHING MUST GO !
All sales are final!
FREE
C OVID
D RIVE -T HRU
T ESTING
(S ELF A DMINISTERED )
OPEN TO ALL