BUSINESS
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
HeRMIsTOnHeRald.COM • A7
Good Shepherd pilots drive-thru testing
Hospital staff hope
to offer more testing
opportunities in future
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edITOR
Good Shepherd Health
Care System tried out its
first drive-thru testing
event on Monday, July 13,
and hopes to provide more
such opportunities in the
future.
The event offered 160
slots for anyone interested,
regardless of whether they
were showing symptoms
or had been exposed to a
known COVID-19 case.
Spokesperson
Caitlin
Cozad said people pre-reg-
istered for all of the slots,
and Good Shepherd was
able to get everyone who
registered swabbed, with
the exception of a few
no-shows.
“Many of the individ-
uals are needing to test in
order to be able to return to
work safely and some sim-
ply wanted to confirm their
IN THE WORKS
suspicion of symptoms
and/or recent exposure,”
she wrote in an email.
“Our staff have worked
tirelessly to be able to
bring this COVID-19 test-
ing event to our commu-
nity safely and efficiently,
and we hope to offer more
drive-thru testing oppor-
tunities in the near future
as resources and capacity
allow.”
She said Lab Corp,
which Good Shepherd con-
tracts with to process the
tests, takes anywhere from
two to 10 days to return
results.
People who participated
and need a copy of their test
results or their test results
sent to their employer can
request that by visiting
gshealth.org/request-med-
ical-records or by calling
Good Shepherd’s Medi-
cal Records Department at
541-667-0621.
The preferred way for
someone to request test-
ing for COVID-19 is to
call their primary care pro-
vider, but some organiza-
tions are starting to offer
drive-thru options.
Benton-Franklin Health
District has been offer-
ing COVID-19 testing on
a first-come, first-served
basis at the Toyota Cen-
ter in Kennewick and the
HAPO Center in Pasco,
Washington.
Those testing sites are
open Tuesday through
Saturday, from 8 a.m. to
1 p.m.
No referral by a doctor
is necessary, and testing is
free, but patients should
bring their medical insur-
ance information if they
have insurance.
The Oregon Health
Authority is hosting a live
question and answer ses-
sion about COVID-19 test-
ing and data on Wednes-
day, July 15, at 12:30 p.m.
on its Facebook page.
Frequently asked ques-
tions and other test-
ing information also are
available on the health
authority’s website at
g o v s t a t u s . e g o v. c o m /
OR-OHA-COVID-19.
Some restaurants switching back to takeout
By NADA SEWIDAN
sTaFF WRITeR
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
A new sign advertises the doughnut shop coming to Umatilla.
New businesses
coming soon
to Umatilla
hen I spoke with in Umatilla. The building,
Salud
Cam- which previously housed
pos of the Uma- the Hunny Bunz strip club,
tilla Chamber of Commerce was purchased by Kyle
recently, she told me the and Heidi Sipe in 2019 and
chamber is planning several turned into a space to lease
grand openings for
for small local busi-
nesses. The other
new businesses in the
two spaces in the
Umatilla area.
“Things
are
building now host
changing in Uma-
the barbecue restau-
tilla, and I’m excited
rant Lite ‘Em Up
to see it,” she said.
BBQ and the brand
One of the new
new Fruteria Piqui
businesses is actu- Jade
frozen dessert stand.
ally an old business McDowell
The businesses,
neWs edITOR
reborn, which the
like others in down-
town Umatilla, are
Hermiston Herald
reported on recently. The currently facing construc-
former Riverside Sports tion in front of their build-
Bar is having a grand ing as the Oregon Depart-
reopening as The Bridge ment of Transportation
on Saturday, July 25. The completes an overhaul of
business is changing from a Sixth Street, but they are
sports bar with adult enter- still open.
tainment to a more fami-
Editor’s Note: In the
ly-friendly bistro.
Works is a regular column
Umatilla residents can discussing new economic
also look forward to a new development projects com-
doughnut shop in town. ing to west Umatilla County
Campos said Raelynn Gal- and north Morrow County.
legos, owner of Rae’s Dayz To submit tips, email edi-
Diner in Umatilla, is plan- tor@hermistonherald.com,
ning on opening the dough- call 541-564-4536 or send
nut shop in the original a letter to 333 E. Main St.
Rae’s Dayz building at in Hermiston.
1290 Sixth St. in Umatilla.
After its opening at that
location in 2017, the diner
has since moved next door
to 1226 Sixth St.
Campos said the date
for a grand opening for the
doughnut shop hasn’t been
set in stone yet, but look for
a story on the new business
in the Hermiston Herald
once that date is set.
Campos said the cham-
ber of commerce is also
working with Evangeline,
a new gift shop, to set up a
grand opening celebration.
The gift shop is one of
three new businesses in the
building at 1201 Sixth St.
W
Some restaurants in
Hermiston, Umatilla and
Pendleton have voluntarily
halted dine-in options in
response to the surge of
COVID-19 cases in Uma-
tilla County.
Restaurants, such as
Lawan’s Thai Garden in
Hermiston, Rae’s Dayz
Diner in Umatilla, and
Oregon Grain Growers
Brand Distillery in Pend-
leton, have closed down or
switched back to takeout
only.
Lawan’s Thai Garden
announced on June 29 via
their Facebook page that
they plan to reopen their
dining room with limited
seating. However, on July 3
they announced they would
be scaling back to takeout
only.
“Due to the growing
COVID-19 cases, we will
continue doing to go order
only,” the post stated.
Some Hermiston restau-
rants have let custom-
ers know via Facebook
that they were temporar-
ily shutting down out of an
abundance of caution after
being notified employ-
ees had been exposed to
the virus. Ixtapa posted
on June 23 that they were
closing down to clean and
to test employees after
being notified their staff
had been exposed to some-
one who had tested posi-
tive for COVID-19. They
reopened on July 5.
“Due to the recent
COVID-19 outbreaks in
the Umatilla County, we
took a break to try and
ensure the health of our
customers and employees,”
they wrote. “Our team here
at Ixtapa strongly urge you
all to stay at home if you
are not feeling well, caring
for the safety of yourself
and others.”
Restaurants in other
parts of the country have
also begun to voluntarily
close their doors or switch
back to takeout only.
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Rae’s Dayz Diner in Umatilla was one of several Umatilla County restaurants that briefly
closed out of caution after finding out that an employee had possibly been exposed to
COVID-19.
In some cases, it’s
a result of staff mem-
bers testing positive for
COVID-19,
according
to the online publication
Restaurant
Hospitality.
In other cases, the clo-
sures are temporary while
they test employees, sani-
tize facilities and increase
health and safety proto-
cols. Some restaurant own-
ers are limiting foot traffic
in hopes of preventing any
staff member from con-
tracting the virus.
This is the case with
Rae’s Dayz Diner in Uma-
tilla. The restaurant had
closed down because an
employee’s family mem-
ber had tested positive for
COVID-19, according to
owner Raelynn Gallegos.
Gallegos said that she
decided to shut down her
business to sanitize and
test all of her employees,
but said she later found out
that there had been a mis-
take, and the person noti-
fied that they had tested
positive had not tested pos-
itive after all.
Come enjoy
some delicious
homestyle
cooking and
friendly service!
• Burgers • Wraps
• Salads
• Sandwiches
• Smoked Baby
Back Ribs
• Prime Rib & More!
“We took a few days to
sanitize and make sure it
was safe for us and safe for
the public,” she said. “We
take this very seriously and
care about our community
and we would not want to
take a chance in any shape
or form to hurt anybody.”
Rae’s Dayz Diner will
reopen Friday, July 17.
Kelli Bullington, a rep-
resentative at Oregon Grain
Growers, said the company
decided to close their dine-in
service on July 3 following
increasing COVID-19 cases
in Umatilla County.
“We decided with the
uptick of COVID-19 cases
in our county and number
of travelers we were seeing
for the holiday weekend
that it was in the best inter-
est of our staff and our cus-
tomers to reduce risk and
roll back to curbside and
takeout only,” she said.
Bullington said the
company feels it is best to
roll back to curbside and
takeout only instead of
remaining open for dine-in
services and risking a
staff member contracting
COVID-19.
“From a financial stand-
point, being open for curb-
side and takeout is a bet-
ter solution than having
to shut down the restau-
rant completely,” she said.
“This was a group decision
at the Distillery to put the
health of our staff, custom-
ers, and community first.”
Oregon Grain Grow-
ers does not currently have
a dine-in reopening date
planned.
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