REGION
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Northeastern Oregon counties could be hurt by mandate
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — East-
ern Oregon’s health care
system could see a mass
exodus of workers come
Oct. 18, the deadline
for Gov. Kate Brown’s
COVID-19
vaccine
mandate.
More than a quarter
of all health care work-
ers in Umatilla, Union and
Morrow counties remain
unvaccinated, according to
the Oregon Health Author-
ity. All would be fired or
forced to resign under the
mandate.
“It’s like a big game
of chicken,” said Dr. Jon
Hitzman, Umatilla Coun-
ty’s public health officer.
“Who’s going to relent
first?”
Hospitals across the
three counties say they are
working to comply with the
mandate, but none would
disclose any specific plans
for how they would adjust
or alter operations if there
is a shortage of workers.
“We understand this
new requirement has been
welcomed by some and has
caused great concern for
others,” said Mardi Ford,
spokesperson for Grande
Ronde hospital in La
Grande. “While we value
every one of our employees
and support their right to
make that choice; as a pri-
vate, not-for-profit Critical
Access Hospital, we must
follow this government
directive to continue car-
ing for our community. We
do not want to lose a single
member of our team.”
Regional hospital offi-
cials in recent months have
said they already were
struggling with a shortage
of workers. Staff have said
they are exhausted after the
delta variant ripped through
the region, hospitalizing
large swaths of unvacci-
nated people. In Umatilla
County, the unvaccinated
have accounted for about
Brooke Pace/Wallowa Memorial Hospital, File
Teri Judd, head of nursing at Wallowa Memorial Hospital,
draws a dose of vaccine for administration at a clinic Tuesday,
April 6, 2021.
49 out of every 50 hospital-
izations this year, accord-
ing to county data.
Hitzman said he’s con-
cerned a mass layoff would
only exacerbate the prob-
lems the health care system
is facing during the latest
pandemic surge.
“It’s going to have a
massive impact on the sys-
tem,” said Hitzman, a vocal
vaccine proponent who is
opposed to the mandate.
“We’re already all stretched
thin. If you happen to get
into an automobile acci-
dent, you have to hope that
they have a bed for you
in the hospital. If I have a
heart attack, are they going
to have a bed for me in the
hospital? Are they going to
have a nursing staff to care
for me?”
workers remain unvac-
cinated. Harold Geller,
the president of CHI St.
Anthony, said the hospital
is working on contingency
plans for the mid-October
deadline.
“As is true for most hos-
pitals, we are concerned
about the number of staff
electing not to become
vaccinated,” Geller said.
“Our entire staff is com-
mitted to providing high
quality care as safely as
possible. They’ve done a
terrific job throughout the
past year and a half. Each
staff member is putting
serious thought into this
matter and it is our hope
that we retain all staff.
Caitlin Cozad, a spokes-
person for Good Shepherd
Medical Center in Herm-
iston, said the hospital
has “contingency plans in
place to remain fully oper-
ational” and is “ensuring
we have adequate staffing
to meet the needs of our
Hospitals mum on
contingency plans
CHI St. Anthony Hos-
pital in Pendleton reported
30% of its health care
community.” She added
the hospital is “on track to
be fully compliant with the
state mandate.”
Neither Ford nor Cozad
would disclose how many
of their health care work-
ers are vaccinated.
But state data show in
Umatilla County, 36% of
health care workers remain
unvaccinated. In Union
County, that number is
26%. In Morrow County,
it’s 28%.
Kevin Mealy, a spokes-
person for the Oregon
Nurses Association, said
in a written statement the
union is calling upon “all
nurses and health care
workers to get vaccinated
before the Oct. 18 dead-
line or to fill out the neces-
sary paperwork for a medi-
cal or deeply held religious
belief exception.”
If they don’t, they could
be fired.
“Losing even one nurse
from a patient’s bedside
will deepen Oregon’s nurse
staffing crisis and endanger
community health,” Mealy
said. “ONA expects hos-
pital and health care sys-
tem CEOs to follow fed-
eral labor law and sit down
with nurses to bargain the
impact of workplace vac-
cination policies and find
ways at-risk health care
workers can continue con-
tributing during the surge.”
Cases increase among
hospital staff
Good Shepherd from
July 21 to Sept. 15 reported
54 COVID-19 cases among
staff, according to state
data. Grande Ronde’s staff
from July 15 to Sept. 1 had
35 cases. And staff at CHI
St. Anthony from Aug. 19
and Sept. 3 had 10 cases.
Several
hospitals
say they have seen an
increase in vaccinations
among health care work-
ers since the mandate was
announced.
The vaccine mandate
came in response to the
A17
Record:
Continued from Page A17
rapidly rising number of
COVID-19 cases statewide
as the delta variant surge
filled Oregon’s hospitals
almost entirely with unvac-
cinated people. To curb the
spread, Brown announced
the mandate for health
care workers and teachers
in August, when infection
was at its peak.
But Hitzman said he
believes the state is push-
ing the region’s health care
system into a lose-lose sit-
uation. He said health care
workers should get vacci-
nated because they work
around sick patients, but
added those who have built
their careers in the field
may have little to fall back
on.
“What are they going
to do, just change profes-
sions?” he said, adding,
“For most of us, we’ve been
deeply ingrained in our
professions. It’s not like we
can just go do something
else … It’s going to create
financial hardship for those
individuals.”
In addition, he said the
deadline falls at an espe-
cially critical time for Uma-
tilla County. Last week,
tens of thousands of people
flooded into the county for
the Pendleton Round-Up,
an event where most people
were maskless and there
was no proof of vaccina-
tion or negative COVID-19
test required.
Health care workers for
months have voiced con-
cerns about the potential
for infection to increase
after this event. Hitzman
noted if a surge were to
occur, it would be within
two to three weeks of the
event — right around when
the mid-October vaccine
deadline occurs.
“We’ll see what the
numbers are over the next
two to three weeks,” Hitz-
man said. “But if we see a
major spike, I’m not going
to be surprised. I’m going
to breathe a sigh of relief if
we don’t.”
3:47 p.m. — Welfare check
requested in rural Joseph.
4:59 p.m. — Burglary
reported in Joseph.
7:08 p.m. — Report of
road hazard in rural Lostine.
SEPT. 25
12:38 a.m. — Disturbance
in Joseph.
12:54 a.m. — Report of a
single-vehicle crash near Salt
Creek Summit.
11:55 a.m. — At a traf-
fic stop in rural Wallowa, the
WCSO issued a warning for
speeding.
5:13 p.m. — Lauren B.
Bobbitt, 39, of Wallowa, was
arrested by the WCSO for vio-
lation of court restraining
order.
6:04 p.m. — Public assist
for disabled vehicle in rural
Joseph.
7:04 p.m. — Eric Michael
Ray Landowski, 52, of Joseph,
was arrested by the WCSO on
charges of first-degree bur-
glary, first-degree theft and
criminal trespassing. He was
transported to the Umatilla
County Jail.
9:28 p.m. — At a traffic
stop in Enterprise, the EPD
had a vehicle towed for no
insurance.
10:11 p.m. — Traffic com-
plaint in rural Enterprise.
10:11 p.m. — Request for a
welfare check and ambulance
in Enterprise.
SEPT. 26
3:55 a.m. — At a traffic
stop in rural Lostine, the WCSO
issued a warning for lighting
and failure to maintain lane.
12:51 p.m. — Two-vehi-
cle, noninjury crash in rural
Wallowa.
3:07 p.m.
—
Theft
reported in Wallowa.
5:58 p.m. — Fire reported
in Eagle Cap Wilderness.
6:34 p.m. — Burglary
alarm activation in Enterprise.
6:46 p.m. — Request for
agency assist in rural Wallowa.
9:59 p.m. — Agency assist
in Wallowa.
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