The Omicron variant of COVID is spreading in Oregon and gaining ground against the Delta variant, which has been the leading strain since August. The Oregon Health Authority reports the new variant made up 27% of cases on Dec. 19, the most recent data available, since appearing in early December. Centers for Disease Control and […]
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Posted inMusic
Triple Whammy
Eric Leadbetter helps bring joy to the music scene, food industry and hospital workers with the St. Charles Meal Mission
Eric Leadbetter’s son was born on April 1. From there he and his wife Briana were stuck quarantining at the hospital for the next five or so days due to COVID-19. The local musician was given a front row seat to see just how hard the staff at St. Charles was working and the conditions […]
Posted inMusic
Nothing like Honey Brunches on a Saturday Morning
Local band Honey Don’t raises money for St. Charles Meal Mission, while having some musical weekend fun
Music brings people together. We haven’t had it in the traditional sense over the last few months, but it’s been great to see how the scene in Central Oregon has banded together to keep music alive. One local band, Honey Don’t, is taking its live streamed shows and using them as a way to give […]
Posted inNews
St. Charles Nurse Shares an Insider’s Perspective on Caring for COVID-19 Patients
He’s on the team intubating patients in Bend. This is what he wants you to know.
David Hilderbrand is a registered nurse who usually works in the operating room at St. Charles Bend. He serves on the board of the Oregon Nurses Association as a negotiating chair for nurses who work for St. Charles Bend. When the hospital shut down elective surgeries in the beginning of March, Hilderbrand moved to the […]
Posted inNews
Why Can’t I Get Tested?
A Bend woman shares her saga of trying to get a coronavirus test in Central Oregon
Nicole Moore has been sick with symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus for two and a half weeks. She’s requested COVID-19 tests from three separate physicians, and has been told three times that she can’t be tested because she isn’t over 65 years old and doesn’t have a compromised immune system. Moore reached out to […]
Posted inNews
A Plea for PPE
St. Charles taps school lunch sites as drop spots for personal protective equipment
As a global pandemic rages on, its myriad effects—beyond more cases of COVID-19—are being felt right here at home. One of those effects: The global shortage of personal protective equipment used by health care workers, first responders and more. Here in Central Oregon, it has the local hospital system very concerned. Thursday evening, St. Charles […]
Posted inNews
Medicare for Us
Is Oregon ready for single-payer health care?
Oregonians could see universal health care in the coming years, regardless of what happens at the federal level. The state has made significant progress over the last decade ensuring access to health care through Medicaid expansion. With a democratic supermajority in Oregon’s legislature, and strong support among voters, it could become one of the first […]
Posted inNews
Disposing of Unused Prescriptions
Oregon takes action against high rates of drug addiction, overdose with medication take-back days
This past August, Deschutes County Health Services issued a public health alert concerning potentially deadly heroin throughout the county, after four overdose-related deaths occurred within a 36-hour time period. According to the Oregon Health Authority, an average of five Oregonians lose their lives every week as a result of opioid overdose—though the number of people […]
Posted inNews
Nurses Ratify a New Contract
Agreement comes after months of debate between St. Charles and ONA
With a tentative contract on the table over the past several weeks, the nurses at St. Charles Medical Center have voted in favor to ratify their four-and-a-half year contract. A majority of the over 900 nurses at St. Charles needed to sign on to complete the ratification—so after months of back and forth, many people […]