For the past several weeks, I’ve been sending out an email on Mondays detailing St. Charles’ efforts to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak and to care for our community through unprecedented times.

If you’d like to read those emails, here’s an archive. And if you’d like to sign up to receive future missives, you can do that here.

My Monday emails tend to be long and full of information, because there is a lot to say. I’ve written about our work to expand COVID-19 testing and our plans to handle a surge of patients. I’ve emphasized the importance of social distancing and urged people to follow Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order. I’ve shared the latest data models and discussed the development of a roadmap for recovery.

I also try to take an opportunity in each email to say “thank you” to whoever’s reading for whatever role that particular person has played in the fight against this dangerous new virus, whether they're working face-to-face with patients, ringing up groceries at the supermarket or simply staying home and helping to flatten the curve.

Here, though, I want to take a moment to be more specific with my gratitude. There certainly is enough to go around.

Thank you to our partner agencies, both locally and at the state and federal levels, with a special kudos to health officials in Warm Springs and at Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties, who have capably pursued the important work of identifying COVID-19 cases, conducting contact investigations and providing valuable guidance for our communities. And to the firefighters, emergency medical personnel and law enforcement officers on the front lines, thank you for putting your own health at risk for the good of Central Oregon as a whole.

Thank you to the St. Charles Foundation for quickly establishing our new Hero Fund, which will benefit frontline caregivers at St. Charles, and for making the 2020 Heaven Can Wait 5K a benefit for COVID-19 relief efforts. It is never easy to ask people for money, but ultimately, donating money is the best way to help our efforts and our caregivers. (Heaven Can Wait is going virtual this year, by the way. Sign up here.)

Thank you to the many businesses and individuals across Central Oregon and beyond that have donated non-medical items and services such as food and drink over the past several weeks. Yes, our caregivers need personal protective equipment, proper training, strong leadership and emotional support along the way. But I can tell you that when a stack of pizzas shows up at the hospital these days, it is greeted with open arms and giant smiles. Simple things matter.

Thank you to the essential workers who are out there risking their own health to ensure our society continues to function as normally as possible. Times of crisis tend to illuminate the occupations that play an indispensable role in the world as we know it, and that’s certainly true right now. To the delivery drivers, postal employees, cashiers, gas station attendants, garbage collectors, retail workers, those on the food-supply chain and all others doing jobs we depend on: We appreciate you and we value your work.

Thank you to the vast army of skilled sewists across the region who have been busily crafting cloth masks for caregivers at St. Charles and other health care providers. On April 1, we announced our 10,000 Mask Challenge in hopes of collecting enough masks to give our people two each. Just over three weeks later, we surpassed that goal, and we’re still going so we can share with others. What an incredible thing it has been to watch this group mobilize and focus its efforts on helping the folks on the front lines.

Last but certainly not least, thank you to the 4,500+ caregivers at St. Charles Health System who have worked tirelessly over the past few months as we engage in an uncertain fight against an invisible enemy that doesn’t seem to play by the usual rules. My full-hearted gratitude goes to the doctors and nurses, of course, but also the pharmacists, respiratory therapists, medical techs, lab scientists, food services workers, environmental services staff, facilities crew and so many more in other support areas who keep our hospitals running smoothly. Thanks also to the administrators at St. Charles, who have spent countless hours setting up new services, honing policies, updating processes, pursuing solutions to new problems and otherwise supporting those on the front lines. We are not done yet, but for now, please know that I could not be more proud to lead such a terrific organization.

Finally, if you’ve read this far, thank you for taking the time to understand what’s happening at St. Charles and how our operation intersects with Central Oregon in this challenging time. It is vitally important that members of this community get their information from trusted sources so we’re all working from the same page and pulling in the same direction.

I’ve said it in my Monday emails and I’ll say it here: We are truly all in this together. Thanks for doing your part.

Sincerely,
Joe

In the past week, my wife and I have received hundreds of incredibly kind messages from our community expressing condolences on the loss of my father-in-law due to COVID-19.

I can’t tell you how much it means to both of us. We have honestly been overwhelmed and humbled by the response and are so thankful to each of you for taking the time to write, for sending flowers and plants and for reaching out with your thoughts.

All of it has helped to make this difficult time a little easier to bear.

I feel similarly about knowing St. Charles has such a supportive community standing behind us as we work together to get through this pandemic.

Overwhelmed.

Humble.

Grateful.

While we have had some positive test results this past week, our number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients remains low. We know this is because of you. Your social distancing efforts and sacrifices continue to make a difference.

Expanding services safely

Our team has been working on a plan for several weeks to ensure we are ready to start providing expanded health services in a safe way when the time is right. On Thursday, Gov. Kate Brown announced that she is relaxing her executive order and will allow hospitals to provide some expanded non-urgent health services as of May 1.

This is good news for our patients who have been waiting for needed surgeries. We know the delay has caused anxiety, pain and distress and we are very much looking forward to being able to provide you needed care. St. Charles has a panel of experts reviewing surgery requests that will evaluate which procedures should move forward first. We appreciate your patience as we move through this important process.

It is also critical to note that if we start to see an uptick in COVID-19 cases in our community, or we start to run low on supplies, we will take a step back. Re-opening for services will be a cautious process over the coming months as we consistently evaluate the safety of our team, our patients and our community.

A word about testing

Finally, we continue to receive questions about testing and are pleased to share that we continue to expand our testing criteria to include more people. In addition to St. Charles clinics and hospitals, many of our partner clinics throughout our communities are also providing COVID-19 testing. Calling your primary care provider remains the best first step to determine if you are eligible for testing.

We have also received numerous questions about antibody testing. Our partners at Deschutes County Health Services are sharing this information on antibody testing with our communities:

Many individuals are seeking serological tests, more commonly called “antibody tests,” for COVID-19. According to the FDA, approved tests “detect the body’s immune response to the infection caused by the virus rather than detecting the virus itself.” They caution that antibody tests have limited effectiveness for diagnosing active infection and should not be used as the sole basis to diagnose COVID-19.

While many test developers are currently seeking FDA approval, there are few approved tests on the market. The FDA warns that “some firms are falsely claiming that their serological tests are FDA approved or authorized, or falsely claiming that they can diagnose COVID-19.” Currently, there are no FDA-approved antibody tests available in Central Oregon. If you are seeking an antibody test, whether locally or online, it is important to make sure it is FDA-approved.

In addition, the World Health Organization has indicated that it is too soon to know if recovered COVID-19 patients are immune to the virus, which makes it risky to rely on antibody information to relax social distancing measures. For these reasons, St. Charles is not offering or recommending antibody testing at this time. However, we will continue to closely monitor the situation and provide updates as more information becomes available.

The best we can do today is to continue practicing safe social distancing, good hand hygiene and wearing masks when we do need to go out in public. It is important that each of us continue to act as though we have COVID-19 ourselves and that every person we meet also potentially carries the virus – simply keeping this in mind and acting accordingly will reduce exposure and save lives.

Sincerely,

Joe

P.S. Here is a photo of just some of the lovely flower arrangements that have been delivered to our home in the past week. They have brightened our days. Again: Thank you so much for keeping my family in your thoughts.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   |   April 23, 2020

Gov. Kate Brown lifts restrictions on hospitals, making more elective surgeries possible

BEND, Ore. – Gov. Kate Brown announced today that her executive order limiting elective surgical procedures will be lifted May 1 provided that hospitals are able to meet certain COVID-19 preparedness criteria.

The change will allow St. Charles Health System hospitals and others around the state to slowly begin ramping up the number of surgeries performed, as long as the hospitals maintain an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and maintain open-bed capacity at or above 20 percent to accommodate a potential surge in COVID-19 patients.

This is good news for Central Oregon patients who have been dealing with difficult health situations while waiting for a safe time to receive care. St. Charles received some shipments of PPE last week and currently has adequate critical resources on hand.

“We want patients and caregivers to feel comfortable and know that we will only expand the procedures we are providing as long as we can do so safely,” said Dr. Jeff Absalon, chief physician executive.

The governor’s new executive order also stipulates that, to start, hospitals will be able to perform up to 50 percent of their pre-pandemic volume and will be required to review and prioritize cases based on indication and urgency. Some surgeries that require critical resources will continue to be postponed.

While the governor characterized the change as an important move for Oregonians whose quality of life has been impacted by the delayed surgeries—and for hospitals and health systems who have seen their revenues decline—she cautioned that the state will monitor and adapt its guidance as needed.

“We’re only stepping onto the ice carefully and cautiously, one step at a time,” Brown said. “If we see a crack in the ice or find ourselves in a precarious position, we may need to pause.”

Since COVID-19 first appeared in Oregon, St. Charles hospitals have been performing up to 25 surgeries daily that were either considered urgent or fell within the exceptions of the governor’s prior executive order regarding elective surgeries. The kinds of surgeries performed varied, but all had the common caveat that a delay in moving forward with them would cause significant harm to the patient.

St. Charles formed a group of experts, called the Limited Elective Procedure Panel (LEPP), to evaluate requests for elective surgeries. The LEPP—which is led by clinical leaders throughout the health system—will remain in place to continue making decisions about which surgeries can be done.

“With the LEPP already in place, we have the infrastructure we need to review each case and decide which ones are appropriate given the new guidance from the governor,” Absalon said. “But overall, this is welcome news—it’s good for our patients who have been patiently waiting for the care they need, and it’s good for our organization, which will start to see some of its revenue return.”

Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Welander said since March 2, the health system’s revenue has declined by 41 percent. That drop is largely attributable to fewer surgeries and the resulting patient stays, along with a decline in patient volumes in Emergency Departments and outpatient clinics.

Like the governor, however, Absalon said the situation could still change quickly.

“If we let up on social distancing as a community too quickly, we absolutely do anticipate the potential for a second surge,” he said. “So, everything we do will have to be thoughtful and staged in such a way that we are able to keep our eye on this. It’s a dynamic process that will be adjusted based on what the prevalence of disease tells us.”

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 and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,200 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.

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Lactation Services

St. Charles Lactation Services is available for continued support throughout your entire breastfeeding journey. You may contact us any time to schedule an appointment, or if you have questions we can answer over the phone.

Bend Hospital Lactation: 541-706-4924
Bend Lactation mobile: 541-780-7753
Redmond Hospital Lactation: 541-516-3623
Redmond Lactation mobile: 541-908-6712
Madras Lactation: 541-460-4110

Breastfeeding Support Group

Mommy and Me breastfeeding support group is held every Thursday from 1-3 p.m. at the Heart and Lung Center conference room on the St. Charles Bend campus (2500 NE Neff Road, Bend).

Download Flyer

Grupo de apoyo para la lactancia

Breastfeeding Education -- Online Course

To make it more convenient for our patients, we offer a free virtual breastfeeding class you can watch anytime.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the instructor, Alicia Selby, RN, directly at [email protected].

At St. Charles, the effort to prepare for and respond to a local outbreak of COVID-19 extends far beyond the doctors, nurses, medical technicians and caregivers who provide food and environmental services on the front lines. It also includes pharmacists, lab workers, IT experts, administrators and even contracted vendors who specialize in a specific service that meets one of the health system’s needs.

Duane Smith is one of those vendors. For years, his West Coast Event Productions company has provided St. Charles with temporary tents, furniture, audio/visual support and special rental items needed to put on a successful event. The company has been in business in Portland for 40 years, and in Bend for 25 years, Smith said.

In fact, it was West Coast’s Bend-area manager, Kezia Steinmetz, and operations manager, Rick Jacobe, who forwarded Smith a recent email from St. Charles President and CEO Joe Sluka announcing the St. Charles Foundation’s new Hero Fund, which will provide bonus pay to frontline caregivers.

In that email, Sluka mentioned that St. Charles would donate $1 million to the fund, and that he himself would donate half his April paycheck in hopes of inspiring others to do the same.

It worked.

“It was so wonderful, I must’ve read it 10 times because I was so impressed and I wanted to make sure I understood it,” Smith said. “I called my management team and I said, ‘Look at this. Isn’t this great?’ Immediately my wife Pat said, ‘We need to match that.’”

The team – which also includes sales manager DJ Smith and director of sales Mike Gargiulo – quickly agreed to give back to St. Charles half its April revenue from tents the company currently has installed across the health system. With 12 tents at nine locations, the donation penciled out to right around $10,000.

“Every day I look at all these health care providers who are risking their lives and their families’ health, and I just can’t imagine the toll it’s taking,” Smith said. “I call them angels. They’re like angels caring for all those people who really need it right now.”

Smith said he hopes West Coast’s donation inspires other companies to give whatever they can to the effort.

“This is a time when every citizen around the globe must join together and share whatever they can,” Smith wrote in a letter to St. Charles. “From hope to prayer, from personal help to financial support or to have the will to stay home to fight this (pandemic).”

Childbirth Education - Online Course

This online course is free. If you'd like to attend an in-person class, please visit our Class and Events section.

As we have battled the COVID-19 crisis, a few of you have had the experience of knowing someone who has been afflicted with this disease. Some of you have already watched loved ones struggle to recover, while others have experienced devastating losses.

For me, that wasn’t the case until last Friday when COVID hit home.

We got the call early in the morning, from the other side of the country; my father-in-law was sick and in respiratory distress and was being moved to comfort care. It didn’t seem real as my wife had just talked with him earlier in the week. By late afternoon that day he was gone. This is a man that loved and was loved. I lost someone I considered a friend, father and one of my biggest supporters.

And for my wife … well … she lost her dad.

The best any of us can do during these times is hold those that are close to us a little closer and do our best to keep our Central Oregon family safe by protecting ourselves and those around us.

After watching news reports this weekend of people protesting throughout the country – and right here in Central Oregon – I understand the frustration is rising. You are tired of being stuck at home. You are tired of being out of work. You are worried about the future and also maybe a little skeptical about how serious this situation continues to be.

After all, COVID-19 cases in Central Oregon are remaining relatively steady and we have not reached a surge of patients that we can’t handle with our available hospital beds, equipment and staff. That’s because of the hard work our community has done in adhering to our social distancing guidelines. You have bought us precious time and we thank you.

But that doesn’t mean the storm is over.

As St. Charles data scientist Michael Johnson explains in this video – we’ve been really good at riding out the rocky weather in our tents. If we step outside now, the winds will still be blowing and we risk being right back where we started four weeks ago.

Most data-modeling scientists in the state agree that we have about a 10% detection rate for COVID-19. As of today, we have 65 positive cases in Central Oregon, which means there could be as many as 650 people who are (or who have been) infected and are circulating in the community. Many may not have any symptoms. 

While everyone wants to get back to work, relaxing our social distancing measures requires thoughtful planning and consideration to ensure we don’t throw ourselves right back into the eye of the storm.

A roadmap for recovery

Many leaders in health care and other industries have been evaluating how we start to go back to normal. We are actively making recovery plans that will help us ramp up in a safe way.

For hospitals, we are developing guidelines that will assist in resuming services including:

• Monitoring the availability of widespread testing for people suspected of having COVID-19
• Ensuring adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies for our facilities and providers
• Working with our public health partners to support thorough contact tracing for those with positive COVID-19 test results

In good news, St. Charles is receiving shipments of PPE supplies that will help protect our caregivers, although we must maintain our conservation efforts as well. In addition, we have added testing capacity. We now have a drive-thru COVID-19 specimen collection site at our St. Charles Family Care Bend East location. Patients still need an order for the collection from a provider and they need to call 541-699-5107 to make an appointment in advance.

We also recently began running COVID-19 tests in our St. Charles Laboratory in Bend for hospitalized patients. We can now turn these test results around in about 40 minutes and plan to expand this service to our labs in Madras, Prineville and Redmond soon. Expanding our capacity for testing has been one of our top priorities since this crisis began.

The more we identify where the virus has taken hold, the easier it will be to contain it.

We'll be alright

In the midst of all of this craziness and stress, what gets me through the long and tiring days is all of the words of encouragement and notes of thanks I have received from you. This past week, one of our patients wrote and performed a song for our caregivers with a simple, encouraging and important message – we’ll be alright.

Eli Ashley, member of local band Appaloosa, recently visited our Bend hospital with symptoms of a stroke. His wife wrote the following note to our care team:

"My husband, Eli Ashley, was admitted to the ER with stroke symptoms. While I couldn't go in with him, by all reports, every minute under your care was exemplary, especially commendable during this difficult time. He was discharged, came home and got up to record this song. It is very, very heartfelt from him, and he sends this out as a "thank you" to St. Charles, your ER and second floor staff, and to the others and to the people of our community: We'll Be Alright."

Please take a minute to watch Eli’s song and share it with others. We all need to remember that we are in this together.

Our St. Charles team continues to be here for you to provide a safe place to receive care – either through virtual visits in our clinics or for emergency health needs in our Emergency Departments. As we develop our recovery plans and look to the future, we need you to help us by following the Governor's order and staying the course we’re on right now.

The numbers may be low and you may be feeling restless, but make no mistake: It continues to be important that you stay home. The lives of our patients, our caregivers and our loved ones still depend on it.

Sincerely,
Joe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   |   April 14, 2020

St. Charles to begin offering drive-through specimen collection service Thursday

BEND, Ore. – Starting Thursday, St. Charles Health System will begin offering a drive-through specimen collection service for COVID-19 testing outside of the St. Charles Family Care clinic at 2600 NE Neff Road in Bend.

Those taking advantage of this service must have a provider’s order and call 541-699-5107 to schedule an appointment. The ordering provider does not have to be employed by or affiliated with St. Charles.

Individuals who do not have a provider’s order will be referred to their primary care provider, or to an Immediate Care or Urgent Care clinic for evaluation.

Initially, the drive-through will be open weekdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Upon arrival, individuals will participate in a quick registration process, after which a specimen will be collected. All specimens will be sent to the University of Washington for testing, and results should be available within two to four business days.

To use this service, individuals should enter the St. Charles Bend campus from Neff Road and follow the signage on Medical Center Drive to the drive-through entrance.

In addition to offering drive-through specimen collection, St. Charles Bend is now also able to provide rapid on-site COVID-19 testing for eligible patients who are hospitalized. The health system received its first allotment of 120 test kits Friday, allowing its Bend laboratory to begin performing COVID-19 tests on its Cepheid platform on Saturday. The health system is expecting a second shipment of 890 test kits within the next two weeks. Once that shipment is received, the health system expects to expand rapid on-site testing to its hospital laboratories in Madras, Prineville and Redmond.

As a reminder to the community, St. Charles’ Emergency Departments are open to see patients with conditions other than COVID-19. All Emergency Departments have protocol in place to evaluate and triage patients in such a way so as to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. This includes taking patients with respiratory symptoms to areas for care that are separate from everyone else.

“We want to make sure people who need emergent care are getting it,” said Dr. Gillian Salton, an emergency medicine physician in the St. Charles Bend Emergency Department. “We have many processes in place, and are wearing the appropriate personal protective gear, to ensure our Emergency Departments remain safe places for those will emergent medical needs to be seen.”

It is also important to remember that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there continues to be a nationwide shortage of blood supply. Emergency Department and trauma physicians continue to urge Central Oregonians to use caution and avoid activities that could lead to a high likelihood of traumatic injury requiring blood transfusions.

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 and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,200 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.

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It was after 10 p.m. on Friday, March 27 when Dave Beermann pulled into the parking lot of St. Charles Bend. Before he could even open his door to help his feverish wife, Barbara, out of the vehicle, he heard someone shouting instructions.

“We arrived at the Emergency Department and they said, ‘Don’t get out of the pickup!’” Beermann said. “I said, ‘OK,’ and they took Barb and put her in a wheelchair and wheeled her off into the dark.

“And that,” Beermann said, “was the last time I saw her for six or seven days.”

Barbara Beermann, 71, is one of handful of people who has recovered and been discharged from St. Charles Bend after testing positive for COVID-19. She spent six days and nights in the hospital’s Progressive Care Unit, where caregivers worked around the clock to lower and stabilize her temperature, which hovered near 100 degrees before finally reaching 101.8 on the night she went to the ER.

By that time, Beermann had awoken soaked in sweat several nights in a row. Just a couple weeks removed from a knee-replacement surgery, she was concerned about an infection and was in touch with both her surgeon and her primary care physician. The possibility that she had contracted the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 never crossed her mind.

“They thought it had to do with my incision at first,” Beermann said. “But they said if my temperature went over 100.4, I should go to the ER. So that night, I was getting ready for bed and all of a sudden I was just out of energy. I couldn’t even get undressed. I took my temperature and told my husband, ‘We need to go right now.’”

Beermann hadn’t experienced any of the other symptoms commonly associated with COVID-19, including cough and shortness of breath. But she said the St. Charles ER staff tested her oxygen level and found it was very low. They also scanned her lungs, she said, and tested her for the virus by inserting a swab deep into her nasal cavity. At 3 a.m. on Saturday, March 28, she called Dave and said she wouldn’t be home that night.

Dave Beermann, 72, was also experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, though his weren’t as severe as his wife’s. So he hunkered down and self-isolated at home.

“I pretty much became a hermit,” he said.

Barbara Beermann couldn’t have visitors at all because she was isolated at the hospital to protect caregivers and other patients from the highly infectious virus. Her nurses were “awesome,” she said, constantly updating and encouraging her. She had one conversation with a doctor – a “gloom and doom” talk about ventilators and the possibility that she might not survive the situation, she said – that upset her, in part because it highlighted the fact that she couldn’t have her family at her side.

“It was petrifying thinking, ‘Oh my God, I want to do this and I want to do that. I want to see all my grandkids grow up,’” Beermann said. “It was pretty devastating, but I could see (my number on the screen) every time they took my temperature. I could see that I was getting better.”

After her second night in the hospital, Beermann’s night sweats subsided, and four days later, she was allowed to go home to her Bend home. There, she decided to make a donation to the St. Charles Foundation in honor of her nurses, who she called “so nice and kind.” Just last week, St. Charles announced a new Hero Fund to benefit caregivers on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19.

“My son is a nurse in California, so I had great respect for them when I went in there,” Beermann said. “And I have even greater respect for them now. They took good care of me, and I just hate to see the loss of life over this. I didn’t give a huge amount, but I hope it can help somebody.”

Now, both Beermanns are feeling much better. A veteran of the agriculture and trucking business, Dave is urging acquaintances far and wide to take COVID-19 seriously.

“I tell them they need to use common sense and be very vigilant about not only their own well-being but also the people around them,” he said.

As for Barbara, her three kids and 10 grandkids are scattered across the country, so she hasn’t gotten a chance to hug them yet, though she did video chat with them to assure them that “grandma is OK.”

She feels lucky – or more precisely, blessed – to have beaten COVID-19.

“I had good care at the hospital and I had a lot of people praying for me,” she said. “By the grace of God, I’m home.”

Last week, a patient celebrated her 95^th birthday while admitted to our Progressive Care Unit at St. Charles Bend. Because of visitor restrictions, her family sadly couldn’t be with her on this special day.

Instead, our social workers, nurses and many other caregivers stepped in to help. They brought her a piece of carrot cake and even served her a martini with three olives – essentially fulfilling her dying wish. They sang “Happy Birthday” while holding up a cell phone so her children and grandchildren could sing along.

The next day, the patient passed away. 

“It means the world to me what the frontline team did,” her son wrote in a note of thanks. “They are risking their families to help families like us and at the same time give comfort and compassion when it’s time. For that I am truly grateful.” 

This is just one of thousands of stories like it taking place across the globe. Health care workers, first responders, public health caregivers and so many more are going above and beyond to not only treat the sick, but to be there for important moments when patients’ loved ones can’t.

Introducing the St. Charles Hero Fund

To acknowledge the many sacrifices and honor the risks our caregivers are taking, last week we launched the St. Charles Hero Fund. 

The fund will provide bonus pay to caregivers who work on the front lines for the month of April. To be eligible, caregivers must work in direct patient care or on-site at a St. Charles clinical location for at least 80 hours this month.

St. Charles caregivers in our hospitals, clinics, home health and patient support areas come to work every day knowing that even with taking appropriate precautions they could contract this serious virus. They provide essential care, while having to worry about potentially bringing home COVID-19 to their families. I am in awe of their heroism and honor the sacrifices they are making to care for others during this crisis.

To kick-start the fund, I am donating 50% of my paycheck during this timeframe to support our caregivers. I hope you will join me in contributing whatever amount you feel comfortable to do the same. To learn more about the St. Charles Hero Fund or to make a donation, please visit our website. Our goal is to raise $1 million from our community as a match to $1 million in support from St. Charles. You can help us get there.

The latest on the COVID-19 front

At this time, St. Charles has the lowest number of inpatients with COVID-19 we have had in the past two weeks. We have just four positive COVID-19 patients at St. Charles Bend and none of them are in the Intensive Care Unit.

This is great news and simply would not have been possible without your efforts to stay home and save lives. It is working.

New projections released by the Oregon Health Authority yesterday estimate that together we have prevented as many as 18,000 COVID-19 infections and 500 hospitalizations because of social distancing measures throughout the state.

Isn’t it extraordinary to think you have saved lives simply by staying home, spending more time with your families, playing board games, watching Netflix and taking a breath from the busyness of life?

Of course, I realize none of this is easy. Parents are juggling working from home while also trying to be educators to their children. Businesses are suffering from the loss of revenue and closed doors. And, we are all afraid to go to the grocery store or even walk too close to a neighbor if we aren’t wearing a mask.

Yet, I know we will get through this together as long as we keep it up. The good news is encouraging. It means our efforts are making a difference. Please stay strong and continue to stay the course.

Sincerely,
Joe