NEWS
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
HerMIsTOnHeraLd.COM • A9
‘Please donate blood. Now’
cern, pandemic or not,”
he said. “We here at St.
Anthony have taken steps
to be prepared as best as
possible.”
Even still, the hospi-
tal president did not mince
words about the national
shortage.
“Please donate blood,”
he said. “Now.”
National blood
shortage felt locally
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
Blood doesn’t last long.
Platelets last only five days,
according to the Ameri-
can Red Cross, while red
blood cells will last up to
42 days. Plasma can last up
to one year if frozen. Nor
can blood be manufactured;
the supply of blood relies
entirely on donors rolling
up their sleeves.
The American Red
Cross, which held a nation-
wide blood drive in Janu-
ary including several blood
donation stations in East-
ern Oregon, reports it is fac-
ing a blood crisis. The orga-
nization’s website stated its
blood supply is at the lowest
levels in more than a decade.
The alarm was sounded
last month during National
Blood Donor month.
“While some types of
medical care can wait, oth-
ers can’t,” said Dr. Pam-
pee Young, chief medical
officer of the Red Cross.
“Hospitals are still seeing
accident victims, cancer
patients, those with blood
disorders, like sickle cell
disease, and individuals
who are seriously ill who all
need blood transfusions to
live even as omicron cases
surge across the country.
We’re doing everything we
can to increase blood dona-
tions to ensure every patient
can receive medical treat-
ments without delay. We
cannot do it without more
donors. We need the help of
the American people.”
Local hospitals react to
shortage
The national blood short-
age has hit uneven ground
in Eastern Oregon, with
area hospitals reporting
their blood supply falling
below critical levels.
Most hospitals are han-
dling it well, given the cir-
cumstances, while oth-
ers have begun to feel the
effects. Most blood that is
donated goes to local hos-
pitals, according to Caitlin
Cozad, marketing and com-
munications director for
Good Shepherd Health Care
System, Hermiston.
“Community support of
American Red Cross blood
drives is essential to return
our blood supply to pre-
COVID minimum stocking
numbers,” she said. “We
especially need O-nega-
tive donors. This is one way
Changing the rules
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Jake Yoste, a phlebotomy technician with the American Red Cross, explains the blood donation process to Elena Nightingale at
the community blood drive Jan. 25, 2022, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in La Grande. The Red Cross reports
its blood supply is the lowest in more than a decade.
you can serve your commu-
nity and help ensure a sta-
ble blood supply for local
hospitals.”
It is unclear to what
degree the pandemic has
affected the amount of
blood donations. Some
areas, such as La Grande
and Baker City, have expe-
rienced an uptick in dona-
tions this year in compar-
ison to other areas in the
region. Still, the Ameri-
can Red Cross noted that
nationwide blood dona-
tions have gone down 10%
since the beginning of the
pandemic.
“We have experienced
critical blood supply issues
in the past months. We have
had no units of O-negative
on the shelf two times and
zero O-positive one time,”
said Ronda Reisdorph,
a laboratory manager at
Hermiston’s Good Shep-
herd Medical Center. “We
have been running with less
than minimum thresholds
in the past few months and
no chance for restocking
even with emergent cases.”
While the medical cen-
ter expects to receive an
increased supply over the
coming weeks to supple-
ment its stockpile due,
there’s no indication that
the national blood short-
age will improve in the near
future.
The American Red Cross
supplies
approximately
40% of the nation’s blood
supply, according to the
organization, and some hos-
pitals might receive as little
as 25% of their requested
blood supplies in the com-
ing weeks. Hospitals nor-
mally keep a steady supply
of blood for routine proce-
dures but can request more
in the event of a mass casu-
alty or injury event.
Since much of the blood
that arrives in hospitals
comes from the arms of
local community members,
due to the large turnout for
Union County blood drives,
some local hospitals have
fared better in the national
crisis.
Mardi Ford, director of
communications at Grande
Ronde Hospital, La Grande,
credited the work of hus-
band and wife duo Linda
and Sheldon Strand, who
run La Grande’s American
Red Cross blood drives,
as a key factor in ensuring
Grande Ronde Hospital has
an adequate blood supply.
Ford said the hospital works
closely with the American
Red Cross and has an inter-
nal system that is used to
track blood supply levels.
Ford said the hospital
has only had a couple of
instances in the past few
years where blood supplies
reached critical levels.
“We are proactive in
making sure that we have
what we need to serve our
patients,” she said. “That’s
one of the beauties of being
small and independent. We
have options on how we’re
able to do things.”
Wallowa Memorial Hos-
pital, Enterprise, recently
received shipments where
the requested blood supply
was not provided.
“Fortunately, we work
with the Red Cross on a
blood rotation to keep us at
optimal levels and have held
on to a supply of the shorted
products,” said Brooke
Pace, director of communi-
cations and public relations.
“We do this to ensure that
nothing is wasted because
of outdating. We can still
transfer units to regional
hospitals in our area if dat-
ing becomes a concern.”
Stefanie Davidson, Wal-
lowa Memorial Hospital’s
lab director, urged resi-
dents to donate blood amid
the growing national short-
age, even as local supplies
remain steady.
“Even though we still
have an above critical sup-
ply, the national shortage
is a concern, and we would
like to encourage any-
one who can to get out and
donate,” she said.
Pendleton’s CHI St.
Anthony Hospital fared bet-
ter than other hospitals in
the region, according to the
hospital’s president, Harry
Geller, who noted the hos-
pital was well stocked.
“There is always a con-
The blood crisis also
has renewed an effort by
lawmakers to change the
rules regarding donations
by those in the LGBT
community.
Senators from across
the nation signed a letter
on Jan. 14 urging the Food
and Drug Administration to
change the rules to allow
men in same-sex relation-
ships to donate blood. In
total, 22 senators signed
their names to the letter,
including Democratic Ore-
gon Sens. Ron Wyden and
Jeff Merkley.
“In light of the nation’s
urgent blood supply crisis
and to ensure that Ameri-
cans have access to life-sav-
ing blood transfusions
during the pandemic, we
urge you to swiftly update
your current blood donor
deferral policies in favor
of ones that are grounded
in science, based on indi-
vidualized risk factors, and
allow all potentially eligi-
ble donors to do so free of
stigma,” the senators wrote
Department of Health and
Human Services Secretary
Xavier Becerra and FDA
Acting Commissioner Janet
Woodcock.
In 1983, the federal gov-
ernment placed a lifetime
ban on gay men from donat-
ing blood, at the height of
the HIV/AIDS scares of
the 1980s. Those rules were
relaxed in 2015 by requir-
ing one year of abstinence,
and then reduced further to
three months in 2020.
The letter noted that
advances in testing technol-
ogies would allow for gay
and bisexual men to safely
donate blood, and criticized
the time-based guidelines
that perpetuates stereotypes.
“It is critical that all
patients have access to the
health care services they
need during this pandemic,
and for many, the availabil-
ity of blood and blood prod-
ucts is a necessary com-
ponent of care,” the letter
said. “Unfortunately, a sig-
nificant drop in the num-
ber of donations during the
COVID-19 pandemic has
resulted in a serious short-
age of available blood.”
Hermiston transport
Oregon Health Authority will lift its
indoor mask requirements by March 31 programs see some drops
and increases in 2021
Oregon Capital Bureau
The Oregon Health
Authority announced Mon-
day that it will lift the
state’s indoor mask man-
date by March 31.
State health leaders
expect that by late March,
Oregon’s COVID-19 hos-
pitalizations will taper
off to about 400 or fewer.
That’s the level the state
recorded before the omi-
cron variant began to
spread.
“The evidence from
Oregon and around the
country is clear: masks
save lives by slowing the
spread of COVID-19,” said
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the
state’s epidemiologist. “We
should see COVID-19 hos-
pitalizations drop by the
end of March because so
many Oregonians are wear-
ing masks and taking other
steps to protect themselves
and each other, such as get-
ting a booster shot or vac-
cinating their children. At
that point, it will be safer to
lift mask requirements.”
Indoor mask require-
ments will remain in place
until further notice for now,
as COVID-19 hospitaliza-
tions continue to strain the
state’s hospital system.
A new rule was filed
Monday by the OHA with
Hermiston Herald
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald, File
A Stanfield senior poses in his Oregon State University Beavers mask and dollar bill lei before
commencement ceremonies on May 29, 2021.
the Oregon Secretary of
State to keep the state’s
indoor mask requirement
in place, replacing a tem-
porary rule that was set to
expire Feb. 8. The new rule
allowed health officials to
extend the current restric-
tions past their temporary
expiration date until no
longer needed, OHA said.
Oregon’s average num-
ber of newly diagnosed
cases has dropped about
40% over the past week,
according to the OHA.
Despite that, hospitaliza-
tions have remained above
1,000 per day.
OHA said Oregon has
the “third lowest cumula-
tive COVID-19 case rate in
the nation and the seventh
lowest COVID-19 death
rate” since the start of the
pandemic. In a filing with
the secretary of state Mon-
day, Oregon health officials
said scientific research has
shown that masks protect
people from COVID-19,
and the state’s overall com-
pliance with mask rules,
combined with a high vac-
cination rate, has blunted
the omicron surge and pre-
vented a meltdown of Ore-
gon’s hospital system, at
least for now. According to
Oregon Health & Science
University data, more than
eight in 10 Oregonians
report continuing to wear
masks in public.
That has helped Oregon
prevent topping the 1,178
hospitalizations recorded
during the peak of the delta
variant surge, despite ini-
tial hospitalization projec-
tions the state received.
Ridership in Hermis-
ton’s Senior & Disabled
Taxi Program declined in
2021 while its Workforce
On-Demand Ride Cooper-
ative program saw a slight
increase in its second full
calendar year of operation.
The Senior & Disabled
Taxi Program provides ser-
vice for eligible Hermiston
residents to locations within
city limits. According to a
press release Monday, Feb.
7, from the city, Between
2017-19 the program aver-
aged 18,000-20,000 rides
per year, but that fell in 2021
to 12,191 rides.
The service has primarily
been used for trips to med-
ical appointments, shop-
ping, public events and
gatherings.
“The past couple of years
have disrupted people’s reg-
ular routines due to can-
celled appointments and
events, and that seems to be
having an impact on how
many people are using the
taxi service,” Assistant City
Manager Mark Morgan said
in the release. “We know
that routine and familiar-
ity are important in helping
people choose to use a pub-
lic transit option like the taxi
service, so we want to help
remind folks that this easy
and reliable system is here
to help.”
Vouchers for the program
are $2.50 each and are avail-
able for purchase at Hermis-
ton City Hall.
Residents who are 60
years or older or have an
eligible disability under
Social Security, the Pub-
lic Employee Retirement
System or other recognized
agency may apply.
The city also reported
its WORC program issued
7,041 ride vouchers in
2021, a slight increase from
the 7,020 issued in 2020.
The majority of these rides
— 62% — were within
Hermiston city limits with
many users getting rides
to service-sector and retail
workplaces.
The program offers rides
to workplaces in Hermis-
ton, Umatilla or Stanfield
and ticket pricing is based
on distance between the
worksite and pickup/drop
off location.
For more information
about the city of Hermis-
ton’s transit options, includ-
ing taxi service and the
fixed-route HART bus ser-
vice, visit www.hermiston.
or.us/transit.