HEALTH
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Community Health Beat
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Members of the Oregon National Guard pose at Blue Mountain
Hospital in John Day where they are assisting local medical per-
sonnel.
Only one county in
Eastern Oregon has
received National Guard
support at hospitals
during COVID surge
Blue Mountain
Hospital boosted by
citizen soldiers
By Alex Wittwer
EO Media Group
What's new at BMHD?
Same Day
Appointments
Strawberry Wilderness Community Clinic
offers same-day appointments Monday -
Friday during business hours to attend to
your unexpected urgent medical needs
that don't require emergency room
treatment. Be sure to call early, slots fill
up fast! 541-575-0404
Free Sports
Injury Clinic
Tuesdays from 4pm-5pm
at Rehabilitation Services
(170 Ford Road, John Day,
OR) Available for students
ages 10-18 currently on a
sports team in Grant
County. Call to schedule:
541-575-4157
Upcoming walks:
COVID-19 wave could
peak by Labor Day but not
end until near Halloween
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Saturday September 18th 8:00am
Seventh Street Complex
Saturday October 16th 8:00am
Seventh Street Complex
22 new babies have
been born at BMHD
so far this year!
Many hospital districts around the state
are receiving support from National Guard
deployments, and BMHD is lucky to have
a team of 8 National Guard members that
will be with us through September. They
will be providing help with a variety of
non-clinical roles including environmental
services, patient registration, and support
services out at the Blue Mountain Care
Center. “This wouldn’t be possible without
the support of their loved ones and
employers, and it’s an honor to serve our
communities.” - Stephen Bomar, Director
of Public Affairs - Oregon Military
Department. We at BMHD are grateful
for the extra help during this time, and if
you see them - be sure to thank them for
their service!
As cases of COVID-19 con-
tinued to rise in Oregon, Gov.
Kate Brown on Aug. 13 issued
an emergency order to deploy
nearly 1,500 Oregon National
Guard soldiers throughout the
state to help support hospitals.
In Eastern Oregon, only
the Blue Mountain Hospital
District in Grant County has
received any of those resources.
Several members of the
Oregon National Guard have
already begun assisting opera-
tions in Grant County. The hos-
pital is among only 11 hospitals
in Oregon to receive support
from the nearly 500 national
guard members currently acti-
vated. Offi cials with the Ore-
National Guard
Support at BMHD
www.bluemountainhospital.org
Blue Mountain Healthcare Foundation
SUMMER
S
U M M E R RAFFLE
R
A F F L E
SUM
RAFF
gon National Guard have
indicated roughly 20 more hos-
pitals will be bolstered by an
additional 1,000 guard mem-
bers by next week, with num-
bers varying based on need.
Soldiers’ tasks include
assisting in support roles, such
as entrance screeners, janitorial
services and security for the
hospital, as well as providing
logistical relief for overworked
health care staff who have been
on the front lines of the pan-
demic for nearly two years.
As of Friday, Aug. 27, sev-
eral hospitals in Northeast-
ern Oregon have not sent in
a request for National Guard
support, according to Ore-
gon Health Authority offi cials.
Those hospitals include CHI
St. Anthony Hospital in Pend-
leton, Grande Ronde Hospital
in La Grande, Good Shepherd
Medical Center in Hermiston
and Pioneer Memorial Hospi-
tal in Heppner.
The steep rise in COVID-19
cases that began in July could
peak on Labor Day and begin a
two-month decline, according to
a new state report.
The COVID-19 forecast
released Thursday by the Ore-
gon Health & Science University
in Portland included an updated
“Census Forecast Primary Sce-
nario” of hospitalizations.
“The forecast shows a peak
census level of 1,197 on 9/6,”
wrote Dr. Peter Graven, the
chief COVID-19 analyst at
OHSU.
Hospitalizations would make
a painful retreat with earlier low
levels of COVID-19 hospital-
izations unlikely until late Octo-
ber — just before Halloween.
Graven said the toll on the
state has been heavy and will
continue for weeks ahead with
levels of cases remaining high
as the virus retreats. Oregon is
currently experiencing the high-
est rate of COVID-19 cases of
the 18-month pandemic.
The rapid infl ux of unvac-
cinated people arriving with
severe infections has pushed the
state’s network of medical cen-
ters to the breaking point.
“We’re seeing the number of
people hospitalized going up at
rates we’ve never seen before,”
Graven said.
Gov. Kate Brown’s order
for mandatory mask-wearing
at public gatherings and events
inside has not shown to have
dented the arc of infections.
“We had hoped to see the
new statewide masking man-
date make a diff erence in fl at-
tening the rate of infection,
but we’re not seeing that yet,”
Graven said.
Beginning Friday, Aug. 27,
the mandated mask order has
been extended to include out-
side public spaces where people
congregate in close proximity.
Any impact of that action won’t
show up until future forecasts.
While there is now hope that
the spike driven by the highly
contagious delta variant could
be slowing its rocket-like trajec-
tory, there will be a long, costly
fall back to levels seen before
the spike.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
could fall to about 200 patients
around Oct. 23. The decline
would continue until reaching
pre-spike levels around Nov. 6.
The forecast shows hospitaliza-
tions could continue to near zero
by Dec. 25.
The Oregon Health Author-
ity has reported that 95% of hos-
pitalizations and deaths during
the last two months have been
among unvaccinated people.
Among vaccinated people
with “breakthrough cases,” 5.5%
have been hospitalized and 0.9%
have died. The median age of
the vaccinated people who died
was 83.
Nationwide, over 38.3 mil-
lion cases have been reported,
along with 633,451 deaths,
according to the Johns Hop-
kins Coronavirus Resource
Center. Worldwide, 214.5 mil-
lion cases have been reported
and just over 4.47 million killed
by the virus.
A MAN
WAKES
UP in the
morning
after sleeping on...
an advertised bed, in advertised
pajamas.
Congratulations to our winners!
1st Prize: Sherri Dowdy
$400 Grant County Greenbacks + $300 Beef Box
2nd Prize: Fran Bunch
$300 Grant County Greenbacks + 1/2 Pig Cut & Wrapped to your
choosing
3rd Prize: Jack Southworth
$100 Grant County Greenbacks + Local Guided Fishing Trip for 2
($600 value)
4th Prize: Darol Craig
$200 Grant County Greenbacks
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He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR,
have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his
ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an
ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person
hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his
non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE.
Then it’s too late.
AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK?
DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE
Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it!
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
S258585-1
A8
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710