A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD
WORKERS
Continued from A1
In response to the emergency declaration,
Saint Alphonsus issued a press release late
Thursday afternoon calling on the county to
remove the reference to the Baker City hospital.
“The request was made because the declara-
tion was inaccurate in reference to the hospital,
and the hospital was not notifi ed nor asked
to participate in any discernment or action as
implied by the declaration,” according to the
press release.
The release also included a statement from
Priscilla Lynn, president and chief nursing of-
fi cer for the Baker City hospital.
Lynn said: “We are fi rmly committed to con-
tinuing to serve the residents of Baker County
as always, and in addressing the COVID-19
pandemic with the resources available. We want
to reassure the Baker County community at
large that our colleagues and medical staff stand
steadfast in our commitment to provide needed
health care services, and address the COVID-19
pandemic with the resources available. We are
extremely grateful for Governor Brown’s support
and allocation of additional resources as demon-
strated by the recent authorization of National
Guard and contracted clinical personnel to our
hospital.”
In an email to the Baker City Herald later
Thursday evening, Bennett wrote that the coun-
ty would revise the declaration as requested.
“Baker County is pleased that the St. Alphon-
sus Health system is able to handle the staffi ng
needs,” Bennett wrote.
Bennett conceded on Friday, Sept. 24 that
the county “blindsided” hospital offi cials with
the declaration. He said commissioners believed,
based on “information we had received,” that a
staffi ng shortage was possible at the hospital.
Potential eff ects of vaccine mandate
According to commissioners, the state vac-
cine mandate is causing “signifi cant numbers
of the exhausted workforce” in health care to
leave their jobs.
Bennett said in an interview on Thursday
morning, Sept. 23, that county offi cials over
the past few weeks polled emergency response
agencies, including the Baker City Fire Depart-
ment and the several volunteer rural protection
districts that also serve as fi rst responders.
These include districts serving the Halfway and
Richland areas, Haines and parts of Baker Val-
ley, Sumpter Valley, the Burnt River Valley and
Unity, and the Huntington area. Most don’t have
ambulances, although the Halfway/Oxbow and
Richland areas have a local ambulance service.
Bennett said the county’s conclusion is that,
if the vaccination mandate continues on its cur-
rent schedule, “we are going to be really short of
people” to respond to emergencies.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2021
LOCAL & STATE
Although the governor’s mandate also gives
unvaccinated employees the option of taking
either a medical exception, which requires
corroboration from a medical provider, or a
religious exception, which employees can apply
for by fi lling out a form, Bennett said he does not
believe that a signifi cant number of health care
workers will opt for one of the exceptions in lieu
of being vaccinated.
Bennett, who is vaccinated and is also a
volunteer fi rst responder in the Unity area, said
the county’s emergency declaration should not be
construed as a comment regarding vaccinations.
“We’re not taking a position on the vaccine,
we’re just saying, this is the problem,” Bennett
said.
According to the Oregon Health Authority
(OHA), as of Sept. 5, 68% of licensed health care
workers in Baker County were vaccinated. That
list includes some workers who aren’t part of the
emergency response system, such as dentists
and chiropractors.
Casey Johnson, president of the Baker
City Firefi ghters Association union, said in an
interview Thursday morning, Sept. 23, that
“the OHA has provided exceptions for anyone
who has a strong moral or religious opposition
to the vaccine. So, right now we’re looking at
those options.”
“As far as Baker City and other departments
I’ve been talking to, everybody’s at the moment
looking at those exceptions as a way to hold off
termination and hopefully then that gives us
time to fi ght this in court and get the governor’s
emergency manager status turned back,” John-
son said. “I still think that vaccines overall are a
very good thing, they keep the country healthy,
but as far as mandating it goes, we’re in strong
opposition to the government telling us what we
need to put into our bodies.”
According to OHA guidelines, employees
who claim a religious exception must fi ll out a
form “stating that the individual is requesting
an exception from the COVID-19 vaccination
requirement on the basis of a sincerely held reli-
gious belief and including a statement describing
the way in which the vaccination requirement
confl icts with the religious observance, practice,
or belief of the individual.”
Local employers, not offi cials at the OHA
or another state agency, will review and verify
both medical and religious exception forms, said
Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for OHA.
Medical exceptions must be signed by a medi-
cal provider who, according to OHA guidelines,
certifi es “that the individual has a physical or
mental impairment that limits the individual’s
ability to receive a COVID-19 vaccination based
on a specifi ed medical diagnosis, and that speci-
fi es whether the impairment is temporary in
nature or permanent.”
There are no such criteria, however, for verify-
ing a religious exception form.
The OHA guidelines state: “There is no specif-
medical or religious exception must ensure that
those workers “are protected from contracting
and spreading COVID-19.”
Among the possible actions to comply with
that requirement are having unvaccinated
employees wear N95 masks or submit to weekly
COVID-19 tests.
The Baker School District, whose employ-
ees are affected by the same mandate and
Oct. 18 deadline as health care workers, will
require unvaccinated employees to choose
one of those options.
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald, File, 2020
Halfway/Oxbow ambulances, photo-
graphed in 2020.
ic verifi cation documentation required to request
an exception for a sincerely held religious belief.”
Baker City Manager Jon Cannon said the
city will receive and maintain records of excep-
tion forms. Based on his review of guidance from
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-
sion, Cannon said he expects the city will accept
religious exceptions. What’s not clear, he said, is
whether state offi cials would audit or otherwise
review those exceptions.
“I don’t feel like it says that I’m supposed to
go and really dive in and study your religion and
say ‘Hey, your religion says no,’ ” Cannon said.
“I don’t think we take it to that level. I think we
make sure the documentation is there, that they
have affi rmed that they have that sincerely held
religious belief. We take that exception and we
say OK and then we try to accommodate it. And
assuming we can accommodate it then we’re
good to go. I think in most cases we’ll be able to
accommodate it.”
Cannon said he understands the concern
about the city and other agencies having enough
employees to respond to emergencies. He said he
agrees with county commissioners’ decision to
prepare for potential problems.
“I think we’re all taking a more proactive
approach to saying ‘What is the worst case
scenario and how are we doing to deal with it?’ ”
Cannon said.
He said he expects that as the Oct. 18 dead-
line approaches, more affected employees will
decide either to be vaccinated or to fi ll out an
exception form.
“I think we start to realize how many of our
fi refi ghters are actually going to say ‘I’m done,
I’m going to walk out’ and how many of them are
going to say ‘I really need that paycheck’ or what-
ever it is so I’m going to either do an exception or
get the shot,” Cannon said. “And as we get closer
and closer to that date, I think that number
started as everybody and now that number’s
coming down. And so I’m hopeful that we’ll get
to that point and we’ll be able to provide the
service without it being as dire as (the scenario
described in the county’s declaration).”
According to OHA guidelines, agencies that
have unvaccinated employees who submit a
Perspective from a volunteer fi re
protection district
Wes Morgan is chief of the Powder River
Rural Fire Protection District in the Sumpter
Valley. Morgan said he has eight volunteers,
although not all are available to respond to every
fi re or medical emergency, such as a traffi c crash
on Highway 7.
Morgan said he and all his volunteers are
vaccinated.
But that doesn’t ease his concern about the
potential effects of the vaccination mandate.
Morgan’s greatest fear is that the mandate
will leave the Baker City Fire Department
unable to respond, with its paramedics and
ambulances, to medical emergencies.
“Potentially it’s going to be a disaster,” Mor-
gan said.
Morgan said he and his volunteers can
provide only basic life support to injured people.
They lack both the training and equipment
that Baker City’s paramedics bring to scenes.
Rural districts such as Powder River also rely
on the Baker City Fire Department to transport
patients to the hospital, Morgan said.
His district has no ambulance, and is not
licensed to transport patients.
Morgan describes himself and his volunteers,
and other rural districts, as the true “fi rst re-
sponders,” and the Baker City Fire Department
as “second responders.”
If the city department can’t dispatch
paramedics and ambulances, Morgan said he’s
not sure that he, or his volunteers, would feel
comfortable responding to a medical emergency
knowing they would be the only ones to do so.
He personally fears the psychological effects
of fi rst responders, with their limited training
and equipment, being unable to save a severely
injured driver after a highway crash.
“I lose sleep at night thinking about it,” Mor-
gan said. “We volunteer for a reason. We want to
help people, and we do help people. But we don’t
want to be the only ones who respond.”
Morgan said he doesn’t believe the governor’s
mandate is having, or will have, its intended
effect, which is to encourage people to be vac-
cinated.
“I think it’s doing the exact opposite of what
they want it to do,” he said. “I’m hoping that the
governor comes to her senses and changes this.”
Care close to home,
when you need it.
In-person or online.
Now more than ever, your health and well-being are important.
That means being proactive with health screenings and
managing existing illnesses better. And knowing you have
care nearby, in-person or online, so you have peace of mind
to focus on what matters most. Because at Saint Alphonsus,
our calling is you.
Family Medicine | Telehealth Video Visits | Drive-up Flu Shots
ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS.
Schedule online at
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3325 Pocahontas Road
or call (541) 524-8000
Baker City, Oregon 97814
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