State health officials are racing to win federal approval of Oregon Health Plan changes before Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, shown at the Oregon Convention Center vaccination site, leaves office.
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KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF/OPB
Gov. Kate Brown gave her final State of the State address Thursday, with an eye toward pushing Oregon beyond COVID-19 and expanding the state’s health care workforce.
From equipment purchases to requests for extensions of temporary staff, signs abound of hospitals anticipating a drawn-out surge.
Sep 22, 2021
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Last year a state employee inadvertently released the vaccination status of some 40,000 Oregon state employees. Pictured is an Aviva Health temporary COVID-19 testing and vaccination site in Roseburg.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF AVIVA HEALTH
Out-of-state medical staffing companies are providing about 800 crucial health care workers in the weeks ahead as hospitals are swamped with COVID-19 patients.
Aug 30, 2021
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Many COVID-19 patients at OHSU are in their 20s and 30s./Kristyna Wentz-Graff/OPB
The hospital has four intensive care units, and they're all full. With more COVID19 patients on the way, managers are gearing up for "crisis standards of care" to stretch staff and set up new beds.