International travel increases the risk of travel-related illnesses and other adverse health exposures. Different countries harbor risks that may make you vulnerable to serious illness. Travel medicine focuses on pre-travel preventive care and posttravel illness diagnosis and treatment. Pre-travel counseling is highly recommended for international travelers. Our providers will review your itinerary, planned activities and immunization history to create a comprehensive risk assessment to accurately evaluate risks specific to your travel destination.

These risks could include infectious and noninfectious travel-related illnesses, required immunizations, health regulations and safety issues. We will provide guidance for intervention strategies to ensure your health and safety while traveling and prevent the likelihood of becoming sick during your trip.

• Managing preexisting conditions that may be impacted by travel
• Prevention and treatment of traveler’s diarrhea
• Proactively preventing motion or altitude sickness, jet lag and blood clots
• Food and water precautions
• Risks of infections from mosquito-borne illnesses/ medication to prevent malaria
• Vaccination and yellow card certificate if traveling where yellow fever vaccine is recommended or required

Immunizations are recommended and even required for entry into some countries. Our specialists can provide these immunizations, including the vaccine for yellow fever, which previously had not been readily available locally.

Seeing us before your trip is an added benefit if you become sick after returning home. As an established patient, we’ll have access to your medical records and your travel itinerary.

Travel medicine providers understand global health trends and pathogens that pose a threat in different parts of the world. We can diagnose the following illnesses and discuss treatment options:

• Traveler’s diarrhea
• Hepatitis A
• Malaria
• Typhoid
• Yellow fever
• Japanese encephalitis
• And many others

We provide complete travel medical care for the entire family. Pre-travel appointments are in person and should be scheduled approximately four to eight weeks in advance of travel. However, timing can be different depending on required immunizations.

Please call to find out the recommended appointment schedule for your travel plans: 541-706-7734.

In basketball, there’s a big difference between shooting two free throws in practice and shooting two free throws in the final seconds of a game when your team is down by two, with fans screaming, hearts pounding and a championship on the line.

Similarly, there’s a big difference between practicing life-saving measures on a training manikin in a quiet classroom and practicing those same measures in a hectic and unpredictable situation with lives on the line.

Central Oregon Community College’s new medical simulation center can’t help you sink your pressure-packed free throws, but it will provide emergency health care providers across the region with incredibly lifelike training opportunities, narrowing the realism gap between classroom education and real-world trauma response.

“This is the next level of education that is going to help make people feel more prepared for these kinds of low-frequency, high-stress scenarios,” said Dr. Ryan Petersen, an emergency medicine specialist with St. Charles.

“The more ‘real life’ the scenarios are, the better the training, and part of that is the anxiety,” he continued. “That’s a hard thing to create, because when you feel like it’s fake, the anxiety is not really there. But when the manikin is crying and its eyes are rolling around or something, that’s when you feel like, ‘Wow, this is what’s going to be happening in reality.’”

The medical simulation center — colloquially known as a “sim” center — is a cutting-edge lab that provides experiential learning in specialty areas such as pediatric trauma, birth complications and mass casualty response. A partnership between COCC, St. Charles’ continuing medical education program and Cascades East Area Health Education Center, the sim center held its first training session for professionals and students in March.

That’s when Petersen, an emergency medicine specialist with St. Charles, ran a training on dealing with difficult airways. Afterward, he said every Central Oregonian will benefit from the innovative equipment and programming at the sim center because emergency response agencies from across the region will use it for training.

“I work closely with a number of fire and EMS organizations in the region, and a lot of the rural areas don’t have access to anything like this, so they’ll definitely benefit from it,” he said. “It’s just a great thing that St. Charles and COCC got together to provide this for the community.”

The center’s technology includes a high-fidelity birthing simulator with infant manikins and other innovative learning tools — purchased with a $350,000 grant from Oregon Health & Science University’s rural-focused Area Health Education Centers program — to be used by EMTs, paramedics, ER physicians, nurses and others from throughout the region’s rural-serving medical community.

“St. Charles is excited to build upon our relationship with Central Oregon Community College,” said Ellie Cuff, supervisor of continuing medical education at St. Charles. “This simulation center will provide a central location for training health care professionals from across Central and Eastern Oregon, and for preparing health care students to enter the workforce.”

The center, based in the college’s Cascades Hall, is being coordinated and taught in conjunction with COCC’s paramedicine department, led by David Schappe, EMT/paramedicine program director, who helped bring the simulation center to life.

March’s initial session prioritized training professionals in medically underserved communities. Attendees of the inaugural session included medical staff from AirLink Critical Care Transport, St. Charles and other health care entities — some traveling from as far away as Black Butte and Spray — as well as second-year COCC nursing students.

Petersen said he is excited to watch programs at the sim center grow and develop in the future.

“For my area of specialty, I’m just kind of touching the surface of what we can do. The scenarios you can run there are pretty much endless,” he said. “It went fantastically, and I think word is going to get out about what awesome training is available and it’s just going to get bigger and better.”

The simulation center’s trainings are being held quarterly, with the next session planned for June. For more information, contact Schappe at 541-383-7751 or [email protected].

After three years of life with COVID-19, the short- and long-term mental health effects of the pandemic continue to ripple through our community, as they will for years to come.

Specifically, the social isolation and separation from loved ones caused by the virus has led to feelings of loneliness, depression and other associated health issues for many people. As we navigate what our world will look like with COVID-19 circulating, we must find ways to reconnect and reunite as a community.

That’s why St. Charles Health System has chosen to focus efforts on reducing feelings of loneliness and social isolation while fostering a sense of belonging as its community benefit priority for the 2023-2025 funding cycle.

“Our previous priority focus of alcohol misuse prevention was sidelined due to the pandemic,” said Carlos Salcedo, manager of community partnerships for St. Charles. “This cycle we are going to focus more upstream in two ways: By addressing the many mental health conditions that begin with feelings of being alone or not fitting in. And by providing new ideas and outlets for individuals to join in community with one another.

“We have learned that engaging with the community is an effective way to help St. Charles meet its vision of creating America’s healthiest community, together and are excited to roll this work out,” Salcedo said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines loneliness as the feeling of being alone, regardless of the amount of social contact, and social isolation as a lack of social connections. Social isolation can lead to loneliness in some people, while others can feel lonely without being socially isolated.

Loneliness has broader implications for our mental and physical health, too. It can lead to depression, a growing problem in the United States. Among older adults, loneliness increases the risk of developing dementia, slows down walking speeds, interferes with their ability to take care of themselves and increases their risk of heart disease and stroke. Loneliness is even associated with dying earlier. Among adolescents and young adults, loneliness increases the likelihood of headaches, stomach aches, sleep disturbances and compulsive internet use. Chronic loneliness is said to have similar impacts on health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

“We are increasingly seeing that loneliness and depression are root causes of a number of health problems and societal problems, and the pandemic has only exacerbated that issue,” said Molly Wells Darling, administrative director of Behavioral Health Services for St. Charles. “If we can help people feel less lonely by connecting with others and becoming part of a community, we know that Central Oregon will be healthier community.”

St. Charles leadership believes access to mental health care is a major need in Central Oregon. As part of the Community Benefit program, the health system will partner with local organizations working to address loneliness, social isolation and belonging in an effort to capitalize on the energy that surrounds the subject. The Community Benefit department will dedicate grant dollars to groups that are trying to provide opportunities to decrease feelings of loneliness and social isolation in communities across the region. Exactly how that looks will be up to the individual communities, Salcedo said.

“Our hope is that each community will choose where to focus their time and energy around this issue. Maybe one will focus on older adults while another focuses on supporting youth or new parents finding community,” he said. “St. Charles may find itself supporting communities in a variety of ways, such as offering financial assistance for projects identified by the community or providing relevant research to enable people to move forward in redefining what it means to be part of a community in Central Oregon.”

Reducing feelings of loneliness and social isolation while fostering a sense of belonging was identified as a priority based on the most recent Community Health Needs Assessment, which brought together population health data, input from community members, community survey results and analysis of available community resources to address health needs.

May 1 Press Release

Team conference and discharge planning

Part of your rehabilitation program involves a weekly conference in which your doctor, therapists, psychologist, discharge planner, nurse case manager and nurse representative get together to discuss goals and the progress necessary for you to return home. Your rehabilitation team and physician will communicate your progress and the discharge planner or case manager will keep you informed of your discharge date and anticipated services you will need at home. If at any time you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to speak with members of your team.

Physiatry follow up

In addition to following up with your primary care provider, your physiatrist (doctor in the rehabilitation unit) may want to follow up with your care after your discharge. The physiatrist will determine what is needed for your condition and will make the appropriate recommendations.

Medical equipment and discharge follow up care

As part of your discharge plan, the social services specialist and/or RN case manager will order any medical equipment that is recommended by your physician and rehabilitation team. The social services specialist or case manager will arrange for the equipment and services by contacting the appropriate providers and will work with vendors to provide the right equipment and follow-up care based on your insurance coverage. The RN case manager will attempt to schedule follow-up appointments. If you or your family have any questions or preferences about the equipment or follow-up care, please discuss them with the social services specialist and case manager.

Home evaluations

We offer in home evaluations on a case by case basis for local patients. We are unable to offer transportation, so your family, friend, or caregiver will need to provide transportation to and from the hospital. If required, you will receive assistance to get in and out of the vehicle. During the home evaluation we will see how you will be able to function in your home at discharge. It also helps us to make appropriate equipment and home modification recommendations.

Visitor policy

While you will be very busy when in rehabilitation, it is important to have the support of family and friends as well. Those not directly involved in your care are encouraged to call the nursing station at 541-706-6398 (choose option #1) to find out when you may have free time during the day (schedules change daily), or plan on visiting after 5 p.m. Because you are involved in such a comprehensive program, your rest is important at the end of the day. We ask that visiting hours end by 9 p.m.

Overnight visitors

Overnight visitors are limited to those who will be directly involved in your care at discharge and are allowed on a case-by-case basis. Children under 18 are not allowed to stay with you overnight. To ensure a healing environment for all patients, overnight visitors should remain in the patient’s room. They are not allowed to sleep in public areas. After 9 p.m., visitors must enter through the Emergency Department and check in with security.

RV parking

RV accommodations are first-come, first-served. The RV parking area on the St. Charles Bend campus has utility hook ups. Families are asked to call 541-706-5900 or visit admitting in the main lobby of the hospital to fill out paperwork. Families staying in the RV park in support of our patients must live more than 50 miles away. RV parking permits are issued on a weekly basis and must be renewed through the admitting office. These permits are to be placed in the window of the vehicle or RV.

What to wear

Since regular clothing is worn in our department, please pack enough clothing to last several days. This should include underwear, nightwear, a jacket, comfortable loose-fitting tops and elastic band pants and any type of clothing you would normally wear. For footwear, flat shoes with Velcro straps or tennis shoes are recommended.

Laundry

Please arrange for a family member or friend to help with your laundry. They will need to pick up, launder and deliver your items to you during your stay in our unit.

What not to bring

There is no need to bring medications from home. Your medications will be given to you by your nurse. No need to bring valuables, money or jewelry with you. Electronic devices are allowed. Bring your own charger.

Meals

Meals provide an opportunity for socializing and are served in the rehabilitation dining room. Your visitors are also welcome to bring food from home for themselves. It is also an option for your visitors to purchase meals in the cafeteria, or purchase a tray from the guest menu. Space can sometimes be limited, please feel free to check with the staff for alternative dining options with your family and friends. If your visitor is bringing in food from home, or outside, please clarify with the staff if you are able to enjoy it based on your dietary guidelines.

Where to park during your inpatient stay

Patients may occasionally need to leave vehicles in the hospital parking lot. While we encourage you to coordinate with your family or friends to move your vehicle back home, it is OK to leave it for a short period of time. To leave a vehicle in the parking lot, please contact security at 541- 706-4961 and provide a description of the vehicle, year, make, model and license plate number. If there is an issue and the car must be moved or it is in an unlawful parking spot, you will be given a 72-hour notice.

Change of shift

Our staff changes shifts from 7-7:30 a.m. and 7-7:30 p.m. Nurses will meet at your bedside to talk about your care. Being involved in your care gives us the opportunity to provide you with the best care possible. Please feel free to invite your family members to be a part of this with you. This gives you a chance to meet the nurse taking over your care, ask questions and share important information with your nurses. You, as the patient, should listen to report. Speak up if you have questions or concerns. If you don’t understand any information, feel free to ask them to explain. Report should last about five minutes. Afterward, if you still have questions or concerns please reach out to your nurse or physician when they next round. The charge nurse is also available for any questions or concerns you or your family member may have. We also ask that you limit calls for assistance during a shift change to allow staff adequate time for reports.

Single or double rooms

The rehabilitation unit is made up of single and double rooms. It may be necessary to share a room with another patient while in the rehabilitation center. We will do what we can to match you with the best possible roommate. In certain situations, we may need to move you to another room to accommodate a patient with special needs. We do our best to ensure comfort and privacy for each of our patients and strive to provide each patient with a single room depending on availability and medical need.

While sharing a room may not be an ideal situation, we have found that many patients enjoy the companionship and bond that forms during their rehabilitation journey. If you are sharing a room please remind your visitors not to sit on your roommate’s bed or touch their belongings and equipment. If your roommate needs to rest, please be mindful of your noise level and respect their privacy. The dining room and outdoor courtyard are available for you to visit with your guests.

Bed and chair alarms

Your safety is a high priority for us. We have alarms for the beds and chairs that alert us when you are getting up without assistance. You will work very closely with our therapy staff and once you have been cleared to be independent with your transfers and mobility, we will turn off the alarms.

Please remember we are looking after your safety and trying to prevent falls.

Infection prevention

It may be necessary for some patients to be on contact precautions in order to prevent others from becoming ill. If so, a sign will be placed outside the patient’s room and personal protection equipment will be mounted on the door for everyone’s use. These precautions apply to St. Charles Bend caregivers, visitors or anyone having contact with an infectious patient or the patient’s environment. If you have any questions about the type of protective equipment to be used, please ask the caregivers in the rehabilitation unit. Hand sanitizer is also mounted at the entrance to each room. It is always important to practice good hand hygiene when entering or exiting a room, whether the patient is infectious or not.

Pet policy

St. Charles is a no-pet, service-animals only facility. This includes our center. We do, however, allow pets to come to an outside area to visit patients as long as they adhere to the following rules:

• Pets must have current vaccinations, be clean and well behaved. If a pet presents a threat to other patients or staff, you will be asked to remove the animal.
• Pets may not enter the unit.

We also provide pet therapy for those whose animals cannot visit. These dogs and their handlers have gone through specific training and are certified to ensure your health and safety. If you are interested in a pet therapy visit, please inform the staff so arrangements can be made.

Controlled substance policy

If a controlled substance, psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana, or any other recreational drug is brought into the hospital it will be treated as an illegal substance. This includes marijuana edibles (lozenges, candies or baked goods, etc). If you are in in possession of a medical marijuana card, any marijuana/cannabis brought into the hospital will be removed and placed in the security safe until discharge. Please ask family and friends to leave these substances at home.

Providing travel medicine and treatment for infectious diseases

Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by harmful agents from outside the body, including viruses, bacteria, parasites or fungi. They can sometimes be transmitted from other people, the environment, from animal contact or insect bites. Common examples are chickenpox, shingles, influenza, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, postoperative infections, and others.

Most infectious diseases have only minor complications. However, some can cause lasting damage or serious and life-threatening complications.

Infectious diseases are usually diagnosed using one or more lab tests. Some test results, like from a nose swab, come back quickly, but other results might take longer. For instance, sometimes bacteria must be grown in a lab from a sample before you can get your test result.

With treatment, most people get better after being sick with an infectious disease. These diseases are also treated differently depending on how severe they are and how much they affect your immune system. People with compromised immune systems are more at risk for serious complications, but these can happen in healthy people too.

Some diseases, like HIV and hepatitis B, can’t be cured, but medications can help prevent serious complications. Sexually transmitted diseases can cause infertility or even lead to cancer, so it’s important to take steps to protect yourself and others.

Our St. Charles Infectious Disease team of specialists offer:

• Same day consultation
• Outpatient antibiotic-treatment management
• HIV/AIDS care
• Hepatitis treatment
• STI testing and counseling
• Travel medicine and treatment of travel-acquired infections
• Pre- and post-operative infection management
• Treatment of hardware and complex bone and joint infections
• Treatment of infections in immunocompromised patients

MyChart paperless Billing FAQ for Patients

What day will paperless statements go live for all MyChart users?

May 16, 2023

How are you communicating the paperless change to all active MyChart users?

• May 2, 2023- MyChart notifications will go out all active MyChart users.
• May 16, 2023-Switch to paperless go live. At this time patients can opt out of paperless billing.

What does it mean when you say transitioning to paperless statements?

For all St. Charles Health System MyChart users who are the guarantor* of an account(s), the default will now be set to paperless billing statement. This means billing statements will be sent via MyChart and no longer via mail. If patients prefer paper statements, they can easily log in to MyChart and return the default to paper statements. *Guarantor is the person responsible for paying the balance of an account.

What if I want to continue receiving paper statements?

Resuming paper statements is easy. You will be able to opt out of paperless statements on or after May 16, 2023, through the MyChart mobile app or MyChart website. If using the app, you will be directed to the web version.

What if I try paperless statement and do not like it? Can I return to paper statements?

Yes, you can return to paper statements after May 16, 2023, by following the instructions below.

I have both hospital and physician bills. Will both be transitioned to paperless statements/billing?

Yes, for those who are the guarantor of a MyChart account, both hospital and physician billing will be paperless.

Guide for Opting Out of Paperless Billing

St. Charles Health System committed to retaining, recruiting health professionals

BEND, Ore. – St. Charles Health System leaders would like patients and community members to be aware that the Oregon Nurses Association plans to hold an informational rally from 3 to 8 p.m. today near the Bend hospital campus at 2500 NE Neff Road. The group has committed to a peaceful gathering on public sidewalks and rights of way that will not obstruct pedestrians or traffic. Patient care, patient and visitor parking and access to the hospital should not be impacted.

“We agree with the ONA about the importance of retaining and recruiting health care professionals and are happy to report that despite a national shortage of nurses we have been making significant progress,” said Julie Ostrom, service line administrator for trauma and surgical services and a member of the St. Charles bargaining team. “Over the past nine months, we have hired more new caregivers than we have lost to turnover in that timeframe and we have reduced the number of open nursing positions at the Bend hospital to 80. In addition, a recent $5 hourly wage increase for all bedside nurses puts St. Charles wages at the second highest in the state (for an average annual full-time salary of $108,000 a year). We respect our nurses for the difficult job they do caring for our patients and community and are proud to offer a competitive pay and benefit package.”

Turnover among Bend nursing staff is also declining, and in 2022 St. Charles Bend reported its lowest turnover rate among nursing staff in the past three years (14.5% turnover in 2022, compared with a national average of 22.5% turnover for RNs, according to NSI Nursing Solutions). St. Charles and Bend nurses represented by the ONA have met to bargain an updated contract 10 times with many more negotiation sessions scheduled throughout May and June. 

“We are very much looking forward to reaching an agreement in these contract negotiations and are working hard toward that goal,” Ostrom said. “In the meantime, our focus remains on providing high quality patient care to our Central Oregon community.”    

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, Madras, Prineville, Redmond, La Pine and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,500 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

Grand Rounds - Apr. 21, 2023
"Preventing Firearm Injury and Death: What Healthcare Providers Can Do"

Speaker: Chethan Sathya, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS . Director, Northwell Health Center for Gun Violence Prevention; Pediatric General & Thoracic Surgeon, Associate Trauma; Director, Cohen Children's Medical Center; Assistant Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.

Objectives

1. Learn about the epidemiology of firearm-related harm.
2. Assess patients at risk of firearm injury, and open conversations with them about access to guns.
3. Learn practical ways clinicians can intervene with patients at risk .

Accreditation: St. Charles Health System is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. St. Charles Health System designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)^TM.

The period to claim credit for this activity expires one year after its original publication. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Claim Credit

Target Audience: Physicians, Nurses, Pharmacists, Allied Health Professionals

Accessibility/Program Questions: St. Charles Health System encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Continuing Medical Education at [email protected].

Oher CME or Clerkship questions: also contact Continuing Medical Education at [email protected].