OREGON
Thursday, September 1, 2022
East Oregonian
A7
State to take steps to reduce the
Oregon seeks nearly $40M in
aid for hospitals, nursing homes risk of suicides at Astoria Bridge
By JEFF MANNING
The Oregonian
SALEM — Two state
agencies will ask the legis-
lative Emergency Board for
nearly $40 million to help
ease what they describe
as a staffing and finan-
cial catastrophe that’s left
hundreds of patients in limbo.
Offi cials from the Oregon
Health Authority and the
Department of Human
Services hope the money will
address what they are calling
the post-pandemic health care
crisis. A full-blown exodus of
nurses and others out of the
health care fi eld has blown
a hole in hospitals’ fi nancial
models.
Oregon hospitals collec-
tively lost $190 million in
the fi rst quarter of this year.
They don’t expect the second
quarter, completed at the end
of June, to be better.
Nurses say they are leav-
ing the fi eld because they’re
tired of the risks posed by
COVID-19, the danger
posed by erratic patients and
the constant demands by
management to do more with
less.
St. Charles Health System
reported a $48.6 million loss
for the fi rst quarter of this
year, according to unaudited
fi nancial statements.
The staff shortages are a
double whammy for hospi-
tals and nursing homes. They
must replace the departed
nurses with temporary help
that costs much more.
Plus, they don’t have
enough staff to handle the
patients. Emergency room
patients can wait days before
a bed opens up, which clogs
the whole system.
But it gets worse when
nursing homes and skilled
nursing centers refuse
to take patients ready to
be discharged from the
hospital because they too
lack the staff to care for
additional residents.
An estimated 600 patients
in Oregon are in this health
care limbo. They are gener-
ating little if any revenue
for the hospitals and they’re
taking up a bed that normally
would be allocated to a new
patient with immediate medi-
cal needs.
The Department of
Human Services is seeking
$25.7 million from the state
general fund and $2.6 million
in other monies. The money
would pay for “incentives”
to long-term care facilities to
accept those stuck hospital
patients.
The additional funds
would pay for nurse crisis
teams to help nursing homes
hit hardest by staff shortages.
It would generate new higher
reimbursement for adult
foster homes that accept some
of these patients. And it would
create a provider relief fund to
save nursing homes and other
facilities facing insolvency.
OREGON BRIEFING
Lewis & Clark
student killed when
column collapses
PORT LA N D — A
masonry column collapsed
on the Lewis & Clark
College campus Monday
night, Aug. 29, killing one
student and injuring two
others, according to the
college and Portland Fire &
Rescue Bureau.
The student killed is a
19-year-old man, and the
two students injured are both
18-year-old women.
Investigators learned
six people were in three
ham mocks that were
attached to four free-stand-
ing columns on the campus
when one column fell inward
toward the students, accord-
ing to Portland Fire spokes-
person Terry Foster. Two
students were in each of the
three hammocks, Foster said.
Fire and ambulance crews
were called to the campus
shortly after 8:15 p.m. on
reports of multiple people
injured due to a collapsed
brick column.
The 19-year-old man was
not pinned under a column
but appeared to have been
struck by the column that
fell, Foster said. The column
was about 9 to 10 feet tall,
and 20-by-20 inches, he said.
One 18-year-old suff ered
injuries to her arm, and the
other 18-year-old injured
sustained abdominal injuries,
according to the fi re bureau.
Both women who were
injured were taken to Oregon
Health & Science University
Hospital for treatment.
Aug. 29 marked the fi rst
day of classes for the college’s
fall semester.
— The Oregonian
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
ASTORIA — After a
series of tragedies and close
calls, the Oregon Department
of Transportation plans to
take steps to reduce the risk
of suicides at the Astoria
Bridge.
The state does not keep
an offi cial count, but several
people have leaped off the
bridge in recent years.
In January, a 29-year-old
Astoria man died after jump-
ing off the bridge and land-
ing on the grass east of Suomi
Hall.
Another man with a
history of mental health
issues scaled the bridge twice
this year.
One night in late July, a
Kia was found abandoned
on the bridge, blocking the
northbound lane. The owner
is listed as a missing person,
Oregon State Police said.
“The Megler Bridge is a
draw for suicide or suicide
attempts,” Monica Steele,
the assistant Clatsop County
manager, said in August at a
Public Safety Coordinating
Council meeting.
County leaders recently
met virtually with state trans-
portation staff to discuss a
range of options.
In the near future, the
department will post bridge
signs with the 988 Suicide
& Crisis Lifeline, the new
national suicide-prevention
number, according to Mark
Buffi ngton, the department’s
district manager on the North
Coast.
The department also
might enlarge a deck-level
gate, currently topped with
barbed wire, that allows
Ed Hunt/For The Astorian, File
The Oregon Department of Transportation in August 2022 re-
ported it plans to take steps to prevent more suicides at the
Astoria Bridge, including installing signs with the 988 Suicide
& Crisis Lifeline, the new national suicide-prevention number.
access to the top of the span.
People have managed to
bypass it and ascend the steps
to the bridge’s highest point.
Other bridges, such as the
Golden Gate Bridge in San
Francisco, have had netting
installed to help catch people
who jump. At the Astoria
Bridge, the cormorant popu-
lation could pose problems.
“I’m afraid that if we put
netting down, we create a
platform for nesting,” Buff -
ington said. “But it is in
discussion.”
Fencing may be another
option, though a retrofit
would be years away.
“There’s currently no
funding for that type of
change,” Buffington said,
adding, “It would be a major
construction project.”
The Astoria Bridge,
completed in 1966, was
designed to bear a certain
weight and withstand winds
of a certain speed. To add
fencing to the superstructure
would require the department
to study the feasibility and
engineering.
Steele told the Public
Safety Coordinating Council
that the county would work
with its lobbying fi rm to fi nd
potential funding for a study.
Another idea from the
meeting is to post signs tell-
ing drivers to call 911 if they
see someone walking on the
bridge, an action considered
trespassing. Current signs
caution pedestrians not to
walk on the span and off er
suicide counseling.
The Depar t ment of
Transportation can be reluc-
tant to put up nonstandard
signs. The department tries
to adhere to the Manual on
Uniform Traffic Control
Devices, Buffi ngton said.