NEWS/RECORDS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2020
Good Shepherd highlights work
during community meeting
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Good Shepherd Health
Care System’s annual
community meeting high-
lighted the ups and downs
of an unusual year for the
hospital and its clinics.
For many community
members, this year’s vir-
tual presentation was the
fi rst opportunity to get to
know Brian Sims, who
took over as CEO on
Oct. 1. Sims said previ-
ous CEO Dennis Burke’s
advocacy for rural hospi-
tals had made him a well-
known fi gure among hos-
pital administrators in
other parts of the country
— including Sims, who
previously managed a hos-
pital in Iowa.
“To have the opportu-
nity to follow Dennis and
lead one of the best-known
critical access hospitals in
the nation is one of the
greatest honors of my pro-
fessional life,” he said.
After the state required
hospitals to cancel none-
mergency procedures in
the spring during the pan-
demic’s fi rst lockdown,
Sims said Good Shepherd
Medical Center’s patient
days were down by 24%
during the 2019-20 fi scal
year.
However, he said out-
patient visits were up
by 6.3% and clinic vis-
its, including urgent care,
were up by 8.7% in 2019-
20. Emergency room visits
stayed roughly the same.
During his presenta-
tion, Sims encouraged
people not to put off med-
ical care.
“As a
personal
plea, I’m
going to
ask you, if
you have
not been
Sims
going to
the
doc-
tor because of coronavi-
rus, I’m going to ask you
to go,” he said. “It is safe.
We will take care of you.”
The hospital has made
adjustments for the pan-
demic, including prepar-
ing a special COVID-19
unit for patients with the
virus and setting up an
incident command center.
According to the written
annual report accompany-
ing Sims’ presentation, as
of the report’s publication
the hospital had conducted
5,404 COVID-19 tests and
employees had worked
14,672 hours related to
COVID-19 care.
“The pandemic has
brought many challenges
with it and even spot-
lighted holes and gaps
in supply chains, pro-
cesses, staffi ng, fi nancials
and even facility space,
should we see an infl ux
of patients,” the report
stated. “GSHCS has had
to rethink things and get
creative in order to meet
the needs of a potential
patient surge during the
pandemic.”
Despite those chal-
lenges, Sims shared new
projects and programs the
hospital was still able to
complete as planned.
During the past fi scal
year, the hospital opened
up a cancer center and
began offering oncol-
ogy services in Decem-
ber 2019. The hospital
also completed an expan-
sion of its cardiopulmo-
nary rehab center in April
2020, and remodeled some
of its departments, includ-
ing its urgent care clinic.
According to the hospi-
tal’s annual report, Good
Shepherd installed a total
of 108 new pieces of med-
ical equipment throughout
its health care system in
2019-20.
The hospital’s Physi-
cal Medicine & Rehabili-
tation Center, focused on
pain management, opened
in June. Services it offers
range from chiroprac-
tics and physical therapy
to headache injections.
Sims said looking toward
the future, they are plan-
ning a “strong” industrial
medicine program, geared
toward preventing and
treating worker injuries.
Construction on the
space for Good Shep-
herd Sleep Solutions was
recently completed, and
Sims said the sleep center
will open in November.
The hospital recruited
10 physicians in the past
year and has plans to add
more to the GSHCS staff,
which now totals more
than 750 employees. Sims
thanked the staff, and also
the hospital’s volunteers.
He said the volunteers
have been limited this year
in the time they have been
able to spend on campus,
but they have still pitched
in in other ways, includ-
ing sewing cloth masks
for employees and raising
money for the hospital’s
charitable foundation.
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
POLICE LOG
TUESDAY, OCT. 27
11:59 a.m. — A caller reported a washing
machine and air conditioner were stolen in a
burglary on West Locust Avenue.
12 p.m. — An assault was reported on North
First Street.
2:38 p.m. — A hit-and-run was reported on
South Highway 395.
3:25 p.m. — A disturbance involving a man and
woman yelling at each other was reported on
East Catherine Avenue.
4:49 p.m. — A non-injury motor vehicle acci-
dent was reported on North First Street, and a
citation was issued.
5:15 p.m. — A disturbance was reported involv-
ing a man grabbing a woman and yelling at her
on East Main Street.
7:23 p.m. — A domestic disturbance was report-
ed on South Highway 395.
8 p.m. — A disturbance was reported on North-
east Eighth Place.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 28
12:04 p.m. — Child neglect involving three
very young children left alone in a vehicle was
reported on West Theater Lane.
2:20 p.m. — A hit-and-run was reported on East
Newport Avenue.
7:12 p.m. — A disturbance was reported on
South Highway 395.
7:48 p.m. — A motor vehicle accident was re-
ported on West Highland Avenue, and the caller
reported the two parties were arguing with
each other. A citation was issued.
THURSDAY, OCT. 29
10:33 a.m. Someone reported their wallet was
stolen from their home on Northwest Dawn
Drive and there were new charges on three of
the cards in the wallet.
11:25 a.m. — A non-injury motor vehicle acci-
dent was reported on South First Place.
8:22 p.m. — A burglary was reported on East
Theater Lane.
10:17 p.m. — Oregon State Police requested
a Spanish-speaking offi cer from Hermiston
Police Department to assist with a DUII stop on
Sagebrush Road.
FRIDAY, OCT. 30
12:34 p.m. — Someone reported that their
Biden 2020 banner was stolen off their house.
1:53 p.m. — A disturbance involving a man
screaming was reported on East Newport
Avenue.
11:05 p.m. — A burglary was reported on West
Beech Avenue.
SATURDAY, OCT. 31
10:51 a.m. — A domestic disturbance was
reported on South Highway 395.
12:26 p.m. — A burglary was reported on East
Jennie Avenue.
6:29 p.m. — A domestic disturbance was report-
ed on East Diagonal Avenue.
8:23 p.m. — A drunken driver was reported on
West Hermiston Avenue but police were unable
to locate.
8:49 p.m. — A burglary was reported on North-
east Eighth Street.
SUNDAY, NOV. 1
12:57 a.m. — A fi ght was reported on West
Joseph Avenue.
1:27 a.m. — A disturbance was reported on
South Highway 395.
10:14 a.m. — A hit-and-run was reported on
Southwest 13th Place.
Echo School plans veterans celebration
HERMISTON HERALD
Students in kindergarten
through 12th grade at Echo
School invite veterans and
the public to attend their
annual Veterans Celebration
on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
A Veterans Assembly will
kick off the event at 10 a.m.
at the Echo School football
fi eld, 600 Gerone St., across
the street from the school.
Bleachers will be set up, or
attendees can bring a lawn
chair. Afterward, the stu-
dents will honor all mili-
tary branches in a parade
through Echo, starting at
11 a.m. from the school
down Main Street and back
to the school, escorted by
local police and fi re person-
nel. The Middle School Wax
Museum will be stationed
on Main Street for viewing
following the parade.
Those attending in person
are asked to observe social
distancing and face covering
protocols, and warm cloth-
ing is highly recommended.
The assembly will be lives-
treamed on the Echo School
District Facebook page.
For more information,
contact Billie Parker at
bjparker@echosd5.org or
541-376-8436.
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