At St. Charles Health System, we’ve understood the threat of COVID-19 for months, and we’ve been planning accordingly. Our caregivers have worked tirelessly over the past several weeks to enact new policies, adjust workflows and optimize our available resources, all with three major goals in mind: To preserve critical supplies, to prepare for a surge of patients and to protect our caregivers so they can care for the communities we serve.
With 18 positive cases in the region (as of Friday afternoon), the virus is here, and it will spread. Below is a list of the things we’ve done and the things we’re doing to get ready for COVID-19’s arrival in Central Oregon, with links to more information.
Our main message to Central Oregonians right now:
STAY HOME, SAVE LIVES
Watch our President and CEO, Joe Sluka, explain why this is so important.
A summary:
Our hospitals are not the solution for this disease. They are the war zone.
Our caregivers and first responders are on the front lines. They will come to work to care for you and your loved ones.
The fight has already begun. It’s a fight in which we have to do everything in our power to win.
The only way we are going to slow the spread of COVID-19 right now is by self-isolating at home.
Stay home now. If you have kids at home – including teens – please enforce this directive for them.
This means:
Leave the house only for essential reasons, like to get food and medicine.
Socialize only with people who live in your house.
No picnics, camping, visits to the dog park or trips to the coast.
If you exercise outside, go alone or with someone from your household. Keep six feet apart from others.
No playdates for kids or hanging out for teens, except through digital means.
We need you to stay home so we will have the capacity – hospital beds, ventilators, trained staff – to care for those who need it most. If people don’t stay home, COVID-19 will spread more quickly and our hospitals will be overwhelmed. Here’s a good video on how this works:
WHERE TO GET INFORMATION
Resist misinformation. Do not spread rumors. Look to trusted local sources for facts:
Do you have questions about COVID-19?
Call our hotline: 541-699-5109. It’s open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
TESTING
There is a nationwide shortage of medical supplies used to collect samples to test for COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. As a result, we cannot test everyone. We must conserve supplies for the sickest and most vulnerable people.
We’ve established certain criteria that people must meet in order to be tested and are actively working to expand our testing capabilities.
Important: If you have symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, fever, shortness of breath) but you are not so sick you need hospitalization, the best thing you can do is stay home and call your primary care physician or your county’s public health department.
VISITOR RESTRICTIONS AND HOSPITAL ACCESS
To protect patients and caregivers and to preserve critical safety supplies, St. Charles has adopted significant changes in both visitor restrictions and care guidelines at all of its hospitals. You can review those restrictions by clicking here.
As an alternative to visiting a family member or friend at a St. Charles facility, please telephone or video call them.
Reminder: St. Charles caregivers are performing respiratory illness screenings at the entrances of all St. Charles hospitals and clinics. Caregivers and approved visitors will be subject to these screenings by answering a series of questions.
CANCELLATIONS, POSTPONEMENTS AND CLOSURES
We have canceled events, postponed elective surgeries and other select non-urgent outpatient services and closed our outpatient rehab to free up as much space as possible in our facilities and to preserve critical supplies in case of a surge. Patients impacted by these decisions will be contacted by St. Charles or their physician.
We understand that postponed surgeries and other appointments are inconvenient and frustrating. Please know we’re doing these things to protect you and your loved ones, and we wouldn’t do them if we didn’t think it was an important part of our preparedness plan.
SURGE PREPARATION
In anticipation of an influx of patients and to best manage patient flow across the health system, St. Charles is changing how and where patients are cared for in our communities. That means:
High-acuity patients, as well as all pediatric patients, will be cared for at the Bend hospital.
Lower-acuity patients will be cared for at the Madras, Prineville and Redmond hospitals. This will include hospice patients, as well as patients who need long-term care but cannot be transferred to a skilled nursing facility.
All four hospitals and some of our clinics have also set up triage and screening tents outside in parking lots.
CALL FOR DONATIONS OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Hospitals around the country are facing critical shortages of such supplies due to COVID-19 pandemic-related interruptions in manufacturing and distribution as well as a dramatic increase in global demand. As a result, St. Charles is actively working to both conserve and to acquire more protective equipment for its caregivers and patients.
Donations from the community are being accepted. Full boxes are preferable, but partial boxes are OK if they’re clean. Please do not bring donations to a hospital or clinic. Instead, you can find a list of needed items and donation drop-off sites by clicking here.
HOW TO HELP OUR CAREGIVERS
The Board of Directors of St. Charles Foundation approved a $200,000 grant to the St. Charles Cares Fund, which provides money to caregivers experiencing economic hardship beyond their control.
This $200,000 came from hundreds of people who gave through direct mail appeals, memorial donations and “grateful patient” gifts in honor of a physician, nurse or technician.
Every gift, no matter how large or small, is needed and appreciated.
E-VISITS, PHONE VISITS AND VIDEO VISITS NOW AVAILABLE
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, St. Charles Health System’s outpatient clinics have transformed the way they care for patients. Earlier this week, the clinics rolled out a variety of options for remote visits with providers, including e-visits, phone visits and video visits.
Remote visits are designed to protect patients and caregivers, preserve critical medical supplies and conserve space in facilities in case of a surge of COVID-19 patients.
NOTE: Patients without a MyChart account are strongly encouraged to sign up for one today at stcharleshealthcare.org. COVID-19 test results are sent to patients via MyChart as soon as they are available. These tests are sent to centralized labs and results can take up to seven to nine days due to nationwide shortages.
St. Charles – Your local, community, nonprofit health care provider
We strive to prosper for and along with Central Oregon, not to its detriment. We are not beholden to out-of-state interests or private equity investors.
