Peace Harbor Fairing Well Amid Pandemic
Community Hospitals across the nation are facing uncertainty and some are even shutting their doors amid the COVID-19 crisis as the ability to provide services such as elective surgeries dwindles. Locally Peace Harbor hospital has converted its surgical department in order to provide beds for coronavirus patients if the need arises. Chief Administrative Officer for Peace Harbor Jason Hawkins says they are fortunate to be part of a large hospital network that has been diligently working on operational and financial alternatives.
“There’s a special team that was engaged and they’ve secured and applied for that that has stabilized our resources.”
Another concern across the board is hospitals having enough supplies of Personal Protection Equipment for staff. Robin Allen is the director of clinical services for Peace Harbor, and she says that is not currently an issue here in Florence.
“We’re doing just fine with that we have sufficient supplies as far as gowns and masks go to meet the needs of our caregivers right now.”
Currently the hospital’s plan is if a case were to be diagnosed in Florence a patient would be moved to Riverbend until such time as Riverbend could no longer handle an influx of new patients.
Governor Extends Dine-in Ban
Governor Kate Brown issued another executive order yesterday to align the prohibition of dine-in food and drink consumption to match the Stay Home, Save Lives order. The dine-in prohibition will now remain in effect until such time as it is lifted by the Governor. Originally the ban was to be in place until April 14th according to esecutive order 20-07 enacted on March 17. This does not prohibit the current policy of allowing take-out or delivery. Locally, several restaurants that had decided it best to close initially, are reconsidering. Darlings Marina and Resort will open for take-out beginning tomorrow and 1285 Restobar will reopen on Monday. Both will offer a limited menu and some daily specials. These will add to a significant number of restaurants already providing take-out and delivery. A complete list is available on line at kcst.com
Tele-Town Hall with Congressman DeFazio
Information is key during this COVID-19 pandemic and official health sources and government agencies continue to provide a supply of pertinent information to the public. This afternoon at 3pm Congressman Peter DeFazio will host a Tele-town hall meeting. Joining him for the meeting will be Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer, with Douglas County Public Health who will provide a public health update and Anne Easterly who is the Vice President of Washington Federal Bank who will discuss the Payroll Protection Program. To participate in the event you can visit defazio.house.gov/live.
New Coronavirus Cases
Lane County has seen an additional 2 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus. One is a male in his 60’s from the Eugene/Springfield area and the second is a woman in her 50’s also from the Eugene/Springfield area. The male is currently hospitalized and the woman is resting at her residence. These two cases were added after the Oregon Health Authority did their daily update yesterday. OHA currently has listed 1181 confirmed cases with 23,007 tests administered. Lane County numbers are currently 32 and are expected to rise.
ODEM Releases Inventory Numbers
The Oregon Department of Emergency Management released information on the statewide inventory of Personal Protection Equipment. To date the state has received a total of 387,000 surgical masks, 79,930 N95 masks, 21,138 gowns, 20,604 face shields, 201,000 gloves and 140 ventilators. This is in addition to their inventory prior to emergency supplies arriving. Numbers continue to fluctuate as they are allocating supplies daily around the state.
Striping Begins
The Oregon Department of Transportation will be putting down permanent striping along the 101 corridor from the Siuslaw River Bridge to intersection of Highway 101 and Highway 126. There will be some traffic flow changes in effect beginning today and continuing through Friday. The City of Florence asks that you please drive with caution and if possible avoid the area during this work.
