Nurses Judy Webb, front, and Judy Barela work at a mobile vaccine clinic run by Salem Health at Chemeketa Community College on Sept. 27, 2021 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem employers reported no school bus routes went undriven and no medical appointments were canceled as a statewide Covid vaccination mandate for[Read More…]
Tag: COVID IN SALEM
Why Salem Hospital might need a refrigerated truck for bodies
An empty casket sits in the Johnson Funeral Home on April 16, 2020.(Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) As the latest Covid surge has increased the strain on Salem hospitals, local morgues are also being stretched to capacity. In early September, Cheryl Wolf issued a grim update during a public policy meeting of[Read More…]
National Guard arrives to reinforce overworked Salem Hospital staff
U.S. Army National Guard Spc. Thomas Watson puts together a patient meal at Salem Hospital on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) NOTE: Salem Reporter is providing this free to the community as a public service to keep residents informed. Please share and please subscribe to support this reporting. For Spc. Ethan[Read More…]
“This is devastating”: Salem Hospital prepares refrigerated truck for bodies as Covid deaths climb
Cheryl Nester Wolfe, CEO of Salem Health, addresses a COVID-19 incident command meeting on March 19, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) NOTE: Salem Reporter is providing this free to the community as a public service to keep residents informed. Please share and please subscribe to support this reporting. Cheryl Wolfe didn’t pull any punches[Read More…]
With Covid case surge comes a longer wait for tests in Salem
Andrea Davila, a nurse at the Kaiser Permanente North Lancaster clinic administers a test for COVID-19 at the clinic’s drive-thru testing site on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) NOTE: Salem Reporter is providing this free to the community as a public service to keep residents informed. Please share and[Read More…]
State, federal data shows vaccination rates vary widely among long term care facilities in Salem
Syringes of the Pfizer vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Thursday, Jan. 28. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Vaccination rates among employees are low at many Salem-area long-term care facilities, and industry groups fear a recent state vaccination mandate will worsen staffing shortages. About half to[Read More…]
Inside Salem’s ICU, the “emotionally draining” work of caring for Covid patients marches on
A nurse cares for a Covid patient in the intensive care unit at Salem Hospital on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) In the life-or-death world of Salem Hospital’s intensive care unit, few people coming and going have time to stop to read a poster on the wall next[Read More…]
Slow state system is delaying ability to track Covid cases in Marion, Polk counties
Katrina Rothenberger, incident commander, stands in the COVID-19 incident command at the Marion County Health and Human Services office on Monday, July 13, 2020. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Local public health officials say that a sluggish state system is impairing their ability to reach people testing positive for Covid, a key[Read More…]
EXCLUSIVE: Video recruiting for unvaccinated medical workers brings storm to Salem care operation
Avi Singh draws up a dose of the Pfizer vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Thursday, Jan. 28. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) A video created by a Salem recruiter for a regional nursing home chain is going viral because she announced she’ll hire unvaccinated medical[Read More…]
EXCLUSIVE: “There’s no cavalry to come save us”: Salem-area hospital workers exhausted as Covid patients fill beds
Sam Bereny, an EMT at Metro West Ambulance, administers a second dose of the Moderna vaccine at a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Centennial Park in Woodburn, Ore. on Thursday, April 1, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) On Friday morning, Salem Hospital passed a grim threshold. Eighty-one people were in hospital[Read More…]