NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
National Guard returns to Eastern Oregon hospitals
Six guard members
expected for Good
Shepherd in Hermiston
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
Eastern Oregon will see
a return of National Guard
members to beleaguered
hospitals as yet another
wave of the COVID-19
virus sweeps through the
nation.
Gov.
Kate
Brown
ordered a second relief mis-
sion earlier this month in
support of Oregon’s hospi-
tals. Nearly 1,200 service
members across 40 hospi-
tals were requested by the
Oregon Health Authority.
The expected deploy-
ment date was anticipated
by no later than Tuesday,
Jan. 18. The deployment is
expected to continue until
April.
Hospitals set to receive
aid from the National Guard
include Grande Ronde
Hospital, La Grande; Good
Shepherd Health Care
System, Hermiston; Blue
Mountain Hospital Dis-
trict, John Day; and Wal-
lowa Memorial Hospital,
Enterprise.
Oregon National Guard Public Aff airs/Contributed Photo
Lt. Col. Seth Rogers, hospital relief mission joint task force
commander, briefs senior staff members on administrative
procedures at the Anderson Readiness Center in Salem on
Jan. 12, 2022.
“Grande Ronde Hospi-
tal and Clinics is extremely
grateful for the guard mem-
bers we will be receiving
here to help us with staff -
ing shortages in several of
our key support services that
have been severely impacted
by the current labor market,”
Mardi Ford, director of com-
munications and marketing,
said. “GRH is, and always
has been, proud and support-
ive of our military.”
As before, the soldiers
will be serving in nonclin-
ical support roles, such as
material handlers, equip-
ment runners, COVID-19
testing support, custodial
services and other logisti-
cal services.
“(Hospitals)
were
reporting that they were
understaff ed,” said Maj.
Chris Clyne with the Ore-
gon National Guard. “The
nurses and doctors — you
know, the clinical care pro-
viders — were having to
take out the trash and do
these menial tasks, and it
was getting in the way of
them providing the care to
patients. That way they’re
streamlined and they can
just focus 100% on caring
for the patients.”
According to Clyne, each
hospital in Eastern Oregon
would receive an average
of fi ve citizen-soldiers.
“We have been told
that Blue Mountain Hospi-
tal District is set to receive
fi ve members of the Ore-
gon National Guard next
week,” Derek Daly, chief
executive offi cer of Blue
Mountain Hospital Dis-
trict, said. “We are thankful
for these staffi ng resources
and the support from the
National Guard. We plan
to utilize these team mem-
bers to help in non-clinical
positions, such as environ-
mental services, across our
campuses.”
Caitlin Cozad, marketing
and communications direc-
tor with Good Shepherd in
Hermiston, said the hospital
is expecting six guard mem-
ber to support the hospital.
Wallowa Memorial Hos-
pital welcomed fi ve soldiers
on Jan. 17.
“Wallowa
Memorial
Hospital was grateful to wel-
come fi ve National Guard
members,” said Brooke
Pace, director of communi-
cations and public relations
at Wallowa Memorial Hos-
pital “We plan to utilize this
additional personnel in vari-
ous departments, from Envi-
ronmental Services to hospi-
tal and clinic screening. The
presence of fi ve additional
staff members helps ensure
that we will continue to
provide premier care to the
people of Wallowa County
in the face of yet another
COVID-19 surge.”
Close to home
But as to why the Oregon
National Guard deploys sol-
diers to support and logisti-
cal assignments at the hos-
pitals instead of ones with
medical training has a sur-
prising reason behind it,
according to guard offi cials.
Medical staff in the Oregon
National Guard often hold
positions at local hospitals
for their non-military job,
Clyne said.
Many
citizen-soldiers
will be deployed to the com-
munities in which they live,
according to Clyne.
“One of the eff orts that
we’ve been making is to try
to get (soldiers) in the loca-
tion where they live,” Clyne
said. “One of the things that
we pride ourselves in is that
we serve in the communities
where we live. That’s one
of the eff orts and priorities
that leadership has made, (to
give guard members) that
chance to serve as close to
home as possible.”
The omicron variant
has been rapidly spread-
ing across Oregon and the
nation, driving record-break-
ing infection rates and lead-
ing to shortages of testing
kits and long lines at drive-
thru testing clinics. Accord-
ing to OHA data, it is the
prevailing variant in Oregon
as of Jan. 2, accounting for
nearly all new infections. At
least one sequenced infec-
tion has been traced to East-
ern Oregon, according to the
OHA.
Data shows hospitaliza-
tions from the new circu-
lating variant are lower, but
the higher number of people
infected has led to hospital-
ization levels similar to the
previous delta variant.
The number of hospital-
ized patients at Oregon hos-
pitals due to COVID-19 is
811 and climbing, as of Jan.
14, according to OHA data.
The previous peak in hospi-
talization was Sept. 1, 2021,
with 1,178 patients hospital-
ized due to the delta variant.
The Oregon National
Guard was called in last
August to help understaff ed
hospitals during the delta
variant surge. Those soldiers
remained at the hospitals
until mid-December.
USDA: Northwest wheat stocks down 43%, winter wheat planting up 3%
By MATTHEW WEAVER
EO Media Group
Pacifi c Northwest wheat
stocks are down about 43%
compared to the same time
last year, according to the
USDA. Regional wheat
industry representatives say
that’s to be expected.
“The overall decline of
43% is about on par with
the fact that we had a 47%
drop in production,” said
Glen Squires, CEO of the
Washington Grain Com-
mission. “There is just
less wheat out there to
start with so the decline in
stocks is not unexpected.”
According to the USDA,
Washington wheat stocks
totaled 82.6 million bush-
els, down from 147 million
bushels the previous year,
nearly a 44% decline.
Idaho
wheat
stocks
totaled 48.8 million bush-
els, down from 84.7 million
bushels the year before, a
42% decline.
Oregon wheat stocks
totaled 21.1 million bush-
els, down from 38.2 million
bushels the previous year,
nearly a 45% decline.
“We did not come into
the year with a lot in the
bins carried over,” said
Amanda Hoey, CEO of Ore-
gon Wheat. “The 2021 crop
suff ered due to combined
drought and heat. With the
lowered production levels
last year, the reduced stocks
on and off farm are to be
expected.”
Nationally, wheat stored
in all positions totaled 1.39
billion bushels, down from
1.70 billion bushels a year
ago, an 18% decline.
Washington winter wheat
growers seeded an estimated
1.80 million acres of winter
wheat for harvest in 2022, up
3% from 1.75 million acres
seeded in 2021 but the same
as 2020.
“The increase in Wash-
ington winter wheat acreage
is not a big surprise given
much higher prices,” Squires
said.
Soft white wheat this
week ranged from $10.20
to $11.25 per bushel on the
Portland market.
USDA’s National Agri-
cultural Statistics Service
occasionally adjusts seeded
acreage numbers later in the
year, Squires noted.
“For spring wheat, we
will have to wait and see,” he
said. “There are quite a few
variables ... rotations, other
crops and their prices and the
wheat price itself. Certainly
we are hoping that moisture
continues to come.”
Idaho growers seeded
760,000 acres of winter
wheat for the 2022 crop, up
7% from 710,000 acres in
2021, and 6% above 720,000
acres in 2020 crop.
Oregon farmers planted
730,000 acres, up 1% from
720,000 acres in 2021 but
down 1% from 740,000
acres in 2020.
Based on seed sales, Hoey
expected to see planted acre-
age increase in Oregon this
year, but anticipated acres
closer to the 740,000 acre
range, not lower than 2020.
“The increase in planted
acreage over last year was
expected, in part due to
response to price but also
largely in response to the
concerns stemming from
extreme drought condi-
tions last year,” Hoey said.
“For irrigated areas, wheat
is a low water intensity crop
option, so (it is) a good alter-
native for a rotation year in
which producers may be
concerned about the impacts
from the drought to water
supply.”
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