A new Oregon requirement that goes into effect July 1 gives patients the right to have a trained medical chaperone present during any genital, rectal or breast examination.

The Oregon Medical Board rule was not implemented because of a particular incident, but as a result of the recommendation of a statewide group focused on sexual misconduct.

Here are some things to know about medical chaperones at St. Charles:

• Patients have always been able to ask for a chaperone during a sensitive clinical encounter, and St. Charles currently provides a chaperone upon request. The new rule simply requires Oregon health care providers to make the offer to patients.
• By law, a medical chaperone must be a licensed Oregon health care professional or a designated staff member who has completed a training course.
• The chaperone cannot be a friend or relative of the patient. However, the patient can request that a friend or relative be present.
• Adult patients (15+ years) may opt out of having a medical chaperone present.
• Patients under 15 years of age must have a medical chaperone present during sensitive exams or treatments, unless a parent/guardian/legal representative declines.
• A St. Charles physician, provider or caregiver may postpone a sensitive exam or treatment until a chaperone can be present.

For more information on the Oregon Medical Board Rule, visit stcharleshealthcare.org/chaperone.

If you’re a regular reader of this column, first of all: Thank you.

Launched six months before the COVID-19 pandemic, it provides a valued communication channel between St. Charles and the communities we serve. And I know it is valued because so many of you take the time to tell me. Thank you for that, too!

I enjoy having this space as a monthly opportunity to talk directly about the impact we make across Central Oregon and what’s happening organizationally – celebrations and challenges, innovations and improvements, exciting new services, inspirational patient stories and, of course, the caregivers, physicians and providers who make this place what it is.

There is so much going on at St. Charles, I want to make sure you’re connected with us in ways that best suit you and your lifestyle. Here are some options:

• Keep an eye on our website, which includes news updates, a calendar of classes and events, career and volunteer opportunities, and sections for the St. Charles Medical Group and St. Charles Foundation.
• Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, which is filled with the latest stories about St. Charles.
• Follow us on your social media platform of choice:
  • Facebook
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• Watch our latest videos on YouTube, and consider subscribing so you never miss a new one. They’re great!

At St. Charles, it’s our vision to create America’s healthiest community, together. The key word there is “together” – we can’t do it without people like you.

Again, thank you for caring about what’s happening at St. Charles and about our impact to all we serve.

Every year, St. Charles puts out an Annual Report that’s intended to provide an update of the health system’s operations, community benefit and clinical impact on Central Oregon.

We just published our 2022 Annual Report, and I hope you’ll take a moment to check it out.

For me, two numbers in this report stand out as very clear reminders of why St. Charles is here and what it is we do every day.

One is that 162,855 unique patients received services at St. Charles hospitals in 2022, up 20% from 135,618 in 2019. Please note that those numbers don’t represent visits, but unique patients, which means 162,855 different people were helped.

That number includes not only local residents, but also people visiting Central Oregon, people from other parts of Oregon referred to St. Charles, and those passing through the region. Regardless of who they are, where they come from or why they sought care, each one of those 162,855 people needed St. Charles. And St. Charles was here for them. (If you’re wondering, the Central Oregon Health Council estimates the region’s population at about 264,000.)

The other statistic that jumped out at me was that 108,042 unique individuals received care from one of our St. Charles physicians or providers in 2022, up 19% from 2019. Again, these are unique individuals, not visits.

These folks came to us for care in a wide variety of specialties, including women’s health, oncology, anticoagulation, behavioral health, sleep care, heart and lung, home health, hospice, urgent care, family care, wound care, trauma care, and many points in between. In every case, they received the care they needed from one of more than 430 compassionate, highly trained physicians and providers.

I am incredibly proud to work alongside them and all of our St. Charles caregivers, who spend every day playing a vital role in providing fundamental, critical health services to our region and outstanding care to our patients. They are the backbone of our organization, and St. Charles could not play its indispensable role in the community without their passion, dedication and expertise.

These two numbers (and the 2022 Annual Report in general) are excellent reminders that everything we do is rooted in our central core mission: in a spirit of love and compassion, better health, better care, better value.

Sincerely,
Steve

After a decades-long career in cardiothoracic surgery, Dr. Angelo Vlessis retired earlier this year, closing a long and impactful chapter at St. Charles.

Over the past 25 years, Vlessis built the health system’s cardiac surgery program from the ground up, hiring and training the skilled staff that remains today.

“For the last 20+ years, he was synonymous with heart surgery in Central Oregon,” said Dr. Matthew Slater, St. Charles’ chief of cardiothoracic surgery, who met Vlessis during their residencies at Oregon Health & Science University in the early 1990s. “He was always a mentor to me.”

Growing up with a chemistry set and microscope, Vlessis was hooked on science from a young age. Although he initially pursued plant physiology, his interests turned to general surgery in graduate school. Cardiothoracic surgery stood out as the most exciting of the surgery specialties, he said, because the practice is peppered with more life-and-death situations.

“Every day or week, there were exciting moments,” Vlessis said. “People come in all the time half-dead, and you operate on them and have the opportunity to save them.”

After finishing his residency at the University of Michigan in 1997, Vlessis worked as an attending cardiothoracic surgeon at St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland. He did several rotations at St. Charles throughout the 1990s before settling in for his first long-term position in 1999. After a two-year return to Portland to work as a professor of cardiovascular surgery at OHSU, he returned to St. Charles in 2016, where he operated until his retirement.

“Without him, we wouldn’t really have a program,” Slater said. “It’s not just about doing the surgery. Dr. Vlessis had to build all the platforms to support it.”

Because Central Oregon is relatively isolated, Vlessis filled a gap in much-needed cardiothoracic care when he arrived. Among his roughly 7,000 patients through the years, some came from as far as northern California or southern Washington.

Part of his legacy, Slater said, is that Vlessis provided consistent care for so long. At many medical centers, quality of care ebbs and flows as physicians come and go, but that was not the case at St. Charles while Vlessis was on staff.

“His prolonged presence allowed the cardiac surgery program to grow and strengthen,” Slater said. “He’s built a really stable platform.”

Another significant mark Vlessis made in Central Oregon is the impact of his mitral valve repair practice. The mitral valve is vital for moving blood in the right direction through the heart, and some genetic conditions can cause it to malfunction. Many surgeons choose to replace the valve with an artificial one; Vlessis specialized in repairing the valve instead of replacing it.

As for the most rewarding part of his career? Vlessis said it’s when he runs into patients away from the operating table.

“Maybe I'll have dinner at a restaurant, and the waitress will notice my last name and say, ‘Oh, you operated on my dad. You saved his life. Thank you,’” he said. “The appreciation that you get in a smaller community … is probably the most rewarding part about working here.”

The orthopedic specialists and physical therapists at St. Charles Physical Therapy provide experienced, compassionate care that focuses on relieving pain, restoring mobility and returning people to the active, pain-free lifestyle they once enjoyed.

The health system is pleased to welcome two new providers, Lindsay Lund and Matt Onderdonk. With these additions, the St. Charles Physical Therapy clinic on Bend’s south side has appointments available and is accepting new patients, as well as all insurances.

“Joint pain, back pain and other types of musculoskeletal and orthopedic pain affect millions of Americans each year, and Central Oregon is no different. For years, we’ve been helping local people feel better, move better, prevent further injury and regain independence,” said Elisa Jadzak, manager of outpatient rehab for St. Charles.

“As the region has grown, we have worked hard to keep up with increasing demand for physical therapy services,” she continued. “With the addition of these providers, we’re improving access to the care that people need when they need it, and at a convenient location at the south end of Bend.”

Orthopedic and musculoskeletal conditions are typically caused by the aging process, normal wear and tear, overuse, sports injuries, trauma or disease, and the pain that results often limits the amount or type of activity a person can perform. The staff at St. Charles Physical Therapy offers a wide range of treatments for back and neck pain, sports- and work-related injuries, osteoporosis and other bone or muscle conditions.

“Our physical therapists are experts in movement, and they’ll examine you and develop a personalized treatment plan,” Jadzak said. “A physical therapist’s training never truly ends. As part of their work, they’re required to stay up to date on the most current, evidence-based techniques and they have expertise that spans the age continuum, from pre-adolescence and up.”

Here's a bit about the new providers at St. Charles Physical Therapy:

Lindsay Lund, DPT

Originally from Bainbridge Island, Wash., Lindsay received her undergraduate degree in biology from DePauw University in Indiana, where she played collegiate soccer. She obtained her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Colorado and her Certified Manual Physical Therapy certification through the North American Institute of Manual Therapy. When she’s not working, she loves all things active and adventurous, including mountain biking, surfing, backpacking, fly fishing and more.

“My experience working in outpatient orthopedics has given me an opportunity to treat a diverse patient population, including athletes, kids, older adults, active military members and individuals with neurological conditions,” she said. “I like to focus on integrating manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and patient education in an effort to encourage patients and help them return to their desired lifestyle.”

Matt Onderdonk, DPT, OCS

A board-certified orthopedic specialist, Matt earned his degree in exercise and sport science at Oregon State University, then went on to get his doctorate in physical therapy at Eastern Washington University. Away from the clinic, he and his wife spend their time chasing their two kids around Central Oregon’s trails. (When he’s not doing that, Matt’s on his mountain bike or searching for his golf ball in the rough.)

“I have extensive experience in motor control and stability retraining, as well as certification through the Titleist Performance Institute for golf injury management and performance training,” he said. “A huge emphasis on my sessions with my patients is communicating goals and expectations. Whether my patients want to be able to get up out of bed or to the top of South Sister, I work to meet my patients where they are at and build toward their goals from there. Problem solving with my patients to find the best treatment strategy for the individual is crucial.”

To learn more about the expertise and services available at St. Charles Physical Therapy, check out these Frequently Asked Questions or call 541-706-5940 to speak to a physical therapist or to schedule an appointment.

(pictured above: Emma Vlossak surrounded by members of Bend Fire and Rescue)

“My only job right now is to breathe.”

That’s what Emma Vlossak told herself as she lay in a ditch off Alfalfa Market Road east of Bend, unable to move, after being struck by an SUV while riding her bike.

Now, nearly a year later, Vlossak is “alive, upright and can hold (her) children again” and, for that, she feels tremendous gratitude. 

Up until the day she was hit on her bike, Vlossak had experienced trauma primarily as part of a team that cares for patients with severe injuries. She spent 10 years as a trauma nurse, three years at St. Charles, serving in the emergency department, after that working as a house supervisor and as a nurse manager in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

When she entered St. Charles Bend’s Emergency Department as a patient last June, Vlossak was surrounded by people she considers family.

“I got to experience being cared for by my family,” she said. “These are the people I was in the trenches with. From the moment the fire crew picked me up to the time I was in recovery, I was surrounded by and cared for by our medical community, who are also my work family. Our caregivers and the Bend Fire crews do not just show up to work, they are deeply committed to the health of our community.”

This week, Vlossak shared her story as part of the first Trauma Survivors Day event at St. Charles Bend, where approximately 50 people including surgeons, nurses, emergency responders, clerical staff and others had a chance to connect with people who had needed their care.

The goal is for Trauma Survivors Day to become an annual event and to kick off a new Trauma Survivors Support Network for Central Oregon.

Meeting former patients is an important opportunity for emergency caregivers to experience connection and closure, said Michelle Brenholdt, St. Charles’ director of Emergency and Trauma Services for Bend and Redmond.

“We are here when patients are having their worst day, but we don’t get to see them when they are back having their best day,” she said. “To meet a survivor, that’s what fills our cups, knowing we played a role in it.”

Connecting with trauma survivors “is like therapy for us,” said Trauma Medical Director Dr. Marika Gassner, who saw one of her former patients, Richard Macias, at the event.

“To see Rich walk in doing so well, it’s enormous,” she said.

Macias was excited to attend Trauma Survivors Day so he could thank all of his caregivers. He developed a relationship with them during his long recovery after falling from a roof late last year.

“It didn’t feel like strangers were taking care of me. The people here, they felt like an extended family," said Macias, who now has 11 plates and 86 screws in his new rib section.

“I just have so much appreciation for everyone,” he said. “I’m so glad I landed here.”

To learn more about the program or to sign up to take part, email the St. Charles Trauma Program.

I want to take a few minutes to talk about the effects of social isolation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and what our health system is doing about it.

At St. Charles, we believe this is a major health need in Central Oregon – a need that was identified and confirmed through our recently completed triennial Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) for the regions served by each of our four hospitals.

You can read more about the importance of this new priority if you’d like. To summarize, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – the social isolation, separation from loved ones and so on – has led to an increase in the number of people experiencing feelings of loneliness, depression and other associated health issues. Social isolation compounds other health challenges our communities are already facing.

Every three years, St. Charles conducts the CHNA, and the resulting report helps guide the selection of a priority for the program. Past priorities include prevention of suicide and prevention of alcohol misuse. With a new CHNA complete, we now have a new priority for the next three years: fostering a sense of belonging and reducing feelings of loneliness.

Why does that priority matter? Because all profits at St. Charles are reinvested in our communities, and the CHNA helps guide that reinvestment. We reinvest in a number of different ways, one of which is partnering with local groups on prevention and ensuring people in Central Oregon have access to core health care services when they need them most. Since its inception, St. Charles has been contributing to programs that benefit our community, and we prioritize those that are taking care of underserved, disadvantaged populations throughout the region.

With our CHNA complete, we will once again be partnering with like-minded local organizations, this time with a focus on social isolation and related issues and awarding grants to groups working to address them. Look for more information about those grants in the coming months.

We also have other Community Benefit grants available: One for those providing basic needs such as shelter, food or safety; sponsorships for community events and/or fundraisers; and small grants for those seeking $500 or less. You can learn more about these opportunities here.

When people think about St. Charles, most think about hospitals, clinics, doctors and nurses. And with good reason! Taking care of Central Oregonians is what we do here, every single day.

But there are many ways to take care of people that don’t involve visiting our facilities, and our Community Benefit programs are an important part of our efforts to create America’s healthiest community, together.

Sincerely,
Steve

Neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease and cerebral palsy can be debilitating, potentially shrinking a person’s world.

Destination Rehab, based in Bend, strives to combat that effect by helping people with these conditions get outside via adaptive, accessible activities. In addition to one-on-one physical therapy, Destination Rehab offers programs packed with fitness and adventure, such as hiking and rock climbing. The programs give patients an opportunity to build a support system and reconnect with activities they enjoy, says Stephanie Odell, the donor journey coordinator at Destination Rehab.

“There’s a lot of meaningful connections that get created,” Odell said. “It's really showing them that they can go out and do it on their own and empowering them to get back into things that they love.

The non-profit organization offers three community programs:

• The Adventure group, which runs from May to October and takes participants outside for activities like kayaking, bird watching and hiking.
• Peak Fitness and Education, which provides year-round workout classes adapted to the needs of participants, ranging from yoga to boxing.
• Rock Climbing for Health, launched this year, meets fox six weeks at Bend Rock Gym.

In addition, Destination Rehab hosts a day-long event, Soar, packed with wellness and outdoor activities specifically created for people with physical challenges and disabilities. This year, Soar is set for Saturday, July 8.

Any patients over the age of 18 are welcome to join Destination Rehab. Some people find the program through physical therapy and stay for the engaging programs, Odell said, while thers come just for the programs – participants don’t need to be physical therapy patients to join.

Odell said she sees patients build confidence and take back their life, not letting their diagnosis define who they are.

“There's so much confidence building and independence building and social support,” she said.

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