Friday, April 9, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
SEASIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Three students, three staff test positive for virus
Seaside Signal
Three students and
three staff members/vol-
unteers have tested posi-
tive for the coronavirus at
Seaside High School, the
state disclosed.
The most recent onset
of virus cases were on
March 25, according to
a weekly report of out-
breaks released by the
Oregon Health Authority
on Wednesday.
Two positive cases
tied to students were also
reported at Astoria High
School dating to March
20.
Seaside Superintendent
Susan Penrod said there
have been no hospitaliza-
tions among students or
staff. All staff and families
have been notified.
“We continue to dili-
gently follow all the clean-
ing and safety require-
ments in the Ready
Schools, Safe Learners
document, as well as the
communicable
disease
plan that is posted on our
website,” Penrod said.
“This plan is a collabora-
tive effort developed by
all the school nurses in our
county.”
In March, Seaside High
School Principal Jeff Rob-
erts disclosed two con-
firmed virus cases among
student-athletes,
result-
ing in a canceled game for
the Seaside football team
against Banks.
Seaside School District
At Columbia Memorial Hospital,
social workers have a role in care
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Recognizing a gap in
mental health treatment on
the North Coast, Colum-
bia
Memorial
Hospi-
tal has placed social work-
ers throughout its network,
including the emergency
department, to help patients
in crisis.
The Astoria hospital, like
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care, law enforcement and
social services agencies,
has seen an increase in peo-
ple struggling with mental
health. The lack of mental
health treatment in the region
has been at issue for decades,
but has become more pro-
nounced since the start of the
coronavirus pandemic.
Columbia Memorial and
Providence Seaside Hospital,
the largest health care pro-
viders on the North Coast,
are not designed to treat peo-
ple with signifi cant mental
health or drug and alcohol
abuse problems. But since
many people in crisis end up
in emergency rooms, the hos-
pitals are on the front lines
and are under greater pres-
sure to intervene.
“We can’t just sepa-
rate behavioral and physi-
cal health out anymore. They
are so intertwined and they
impact each other so greatly,”
said Allison Whisenhunt, a
clinical social worker who
serves as Columbia Memo-
rial’s director of behav-
ioral health, a new position.
The hospital also hopes to
recruit a psychiatric nurse
practitioner.
“We partner really closely
with Clatsop Behavioral
Health on a lot of cases. And
what we’re trying to do really
is fi ll any gaps that exist in
the community,” she said.
“So it’s not about compet-
ing with anybody else who’s
doing services. It’s really fi ll-
ing the gaps where people
aren’t able to access services.
“So, for instance, the folks
who don’t have the kinds
of insurance that Clatsop
Behavioral Health accepts —
trying to help make sure they
still have access to behav-
ioral health supports as well
— has really been the focus.”
‘There’s always
a lot of scrutiny’
Social workers support
the emergency department
at Columbia Memorial seven
days a week, 10 hours a day,
with a focus on behavioral
health.
If there is a behavioral
health crisis off hours then
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care — Clatsop County’s
mental health provider —
comes in and helps conduct
a behavioral health assess-
ment. Every morning, social
workers follow up on mes-
sages from the emergency
department overnight.
Sometimes, people in cri-
sis are ready to be connected
to treatment and social ser-
vices, Whisenhunt said, and
other times social workers
are trying to work proac-
tively to discourage repeated
visits to the emergency room.
“I think that’s one of the
beauties of us having an
ED social worker program
is it really helped support
Clatsop Behavioral Health
staying outside the hospi-
tal walls to help keep peo-
Hug Point is a popular location on the North Coast.
Parks on the
North Coast
prepare for
busy summer
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Social workers help in the emergency department at Columbia Memorial Hospital.
‘I’M SO PROUD OF CMH FOR DOING
THIS. I THINK THAT FOR MANY
YEARS THE COMMUNITY HAS
RELIED ON CLATSOP BEHAVIORAL
HEALTH TO DO IT ALL, AND
NOBODY CAN DO IT ALL.’
Allison Whisenhunt, a clinical social worker who serves as
Columbia Memorial’s director of behavioral health
ple from ending up in the
ED unnecessarily,” she said.
“And I know that there’s
been probably plenty of peo-
ple they have been able to
defl ect from coming to the
ER because the ER is not
a place you want to be. It’s
really one of the least ther-
apeutic places you can be.”
Social workers try to fi nd
the least restrictive option
for patients. If they cannot
fi nd an outpatient program,
they look toward inpatient
psychiatric hospitalization.
The bar for admission
to a psychiatric hospital is
lower than the legal thresh-
old for civil commitment. To
commit someone in Oregon,
a court must fi nd they have
a mental disorder that poses
a danger to themselves or
others or they are unable to
provide for basic personal
needs like health and safety.
Whisenhunt said many
people in crisis do not meet
the criteria for civil commit-
ment, so they have to volun-
tarily accept treatment.
“And I know there’s
always a lot of scrutiny,” she
said. “Why did they release
them? And why aren’t they
helping them? And the truth
of the matter is that we do
everything we can to help
folks. And there are times
where our hands are just
tied by the way laws are
written.”
Another barrier is the lack
of slots available for psychi-
atric care across Oregon.
“What we like to do is
try to get them to that higher
level of care as quickly as
we possibly can,” Whisen-
hunt said. “That has proven
increasingly diffi cult lately.
I am sure COVID has con-
tributed to that, but we’ve
always had a psychiatric bed
shortage in the state, as we
do in many states.
“But it has gotten to a
point where it feels like
really critical. So (we’re)
holding patients in the emer-
gency room for several days
sometimes, which again, we
really don’t want to do.”
Columbia Memorial does
not have a secure room in
the emergency department,
so they make rooms as safe
as possible for people in cri-
sis. Oftentimes, a staff er
watches a patient around the
clock to help ensure they do
not harm themselves.
Judy Geiger, Colum-
bia Memorial’s vice presi-
dent of patient care services,
said the hospital does not
have any immediate plans
for a secure room, but it has
started discussing the idea.
“We’ll look at all our
options on that as the situ-
ation stays the same or gets
continually more challeng-
ing getting patients where
they need to go,” she said.
The crisis respite cen-
ter in Warrenton was ini-
tially supposed to have four
secure beds after it opened
in 2016, but Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, which
operates the respite cen-
ter, did not fulfi ll the prom-
ise. For people in severe cri-
sis, that often means they are
held at hospital emergency
rooms or the county jail.
‘Nobody can do it all’
In addition to the emer-
gency department, Colum-
bia Memorial has integrated
social workers in other clin-
ics and departments through-
out its system, including
pediatrics, specialty clin-
ics and maternal and child
health.
With the pandemic, many
adults and children have
needed more support.
“I’ve been in social work
16 years now, and I have
never seen people struggle
the way they are struggling
over this past year,” Whisen-
hunt said. “People who have
developed substance use dis-
order that didn’t have it. Peo-
ple who have relapsed. Peo-
ple who have had incredible
exacerbations of depression
and anxiety. People who
said, ‘I’ve never felt this way
before and I just don’t know
what else to do.’
“So that’s largely, I think,
what the social workers in the
clinics are able to do to really
help support people and fi nd-
ing new ways to try to deal
with what they’re feeling and
experiencing.
“I’m so proud of CMH
for doing this. I think that for
many years the community
has relied on Clatsop Behav-
ioral Health to do it all, and
nobody can do it all. And
they’ve got funding specifi c
to certain populations, and
that’s really where their focus
needs to be. And so for us to
say, ‘OK, well, let us help
with these other folks that
really are struggling. And
the ones that are under your
charge, let us help coordinate
with you to help get them the
care,’ — it’s been really huge.
“Because, otherwise, to
tell someone, ‘Well, sorry,
they don’t take your insur-
ance. You’ll have to go to
Portland or pay out of pocket’
— for somebody who is
already really struggling
emotionally, that sometimes
tips them over the edge. So
we’re really just trying to just
be a resource for the commu-
nity in this way, too.”
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By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Expecting another busy
summer despite corona-
virus pandemic concerns,
the state has installed per-
manent “no parking” signs
along U.S. Highway 101
ahead of popular state park
sites on the North Coast.
Parking lots at Hug
Point, Arcadia Beach and
Oswald West State Park
fi lled up quickly on nice
days last summer. People
then made use of highway
shoulders. The state tried to
curb illegal parking using
concrete barriers and warn-
ing tape along the high-
way with mixed results.
State parks, facing budget
shortfalls and reduced staff ,
struggled to keep up with
all the garbage left behind.
As more people begin to
receive vaccinations — and
after a year of shutdowns
and restrictions — tourism
experts and local promoters
have predicted a pent-up
demand for coastal experi-
ences and travel.
But state parks funding,
which draws from lottery
dollars, not taxes, took a
major hit last year as restau-
rants and other lottery ven-
ues closed or operated in a
limited fashion.
This shortfall and other
consequences tied to the
pandemic disrupted the
department’s major repair
schedule, “which puts us
at risk for problems with
water, sewer and power
systems as they come under
pressure this summer,” said
Chris Havel, a spokesman
for the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department.
“Our concern remains
one of capacity: it wears
down facilities, overtaxes
restrooms and trash, and
can make it harder to pro-
tect health,” he said. “All
people need to remem-
ber we’re still working our
way through a health emer-
gency, and do what they
know they need to.”
This means people
should still be limiting
travel to close to home, plan
to bring their own clean-
ing supplies and wear face
masks when it isn’t possible
to maintain recommended
social distances, Havel said.
The changes to traffi c
management ahead of pop-
ular parks this year could
include the installation of
live webcams at some loca-
tions so people can see
which areas are full before
they travel, according to
Havel.
These measures are
likely permanent.
This spring, some state
park facilities are still
closed and group day-
time and camping sites are
reopening slowly. Permits
to use the ocean shore for
group events will not be
available until July.
When the state has
reopened parks and trails
on the coast this year, it has
done so quietly. A rerouted
and repaired connector trail
between Ecola Point and
Indian Beach opened with-
out much fanfare this win-
ter, while Saddle Moun-
tain reopened after a long
closure in time for spring
break without any big
announcement.
That, said Ben Cox,
manager of the state’s
Nehalem Bay Manage-
ment Unit, which includes
a number of highly pop-
ular camping and recre-
ation sites, was “a bit on
purpose.”
On poor weather days
this spring, traffi c has been
predictably low at coastal
state parks, he said.
But, he said, “on the
sunny days it was chaos.
Overfl owing parking lots,
overfl owing trash cans and
people everywhere.”
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