COVID-19 outbreak is straining hospitals in eastern Oregon

More than half of patients hospitalized at CHI St. Anthony’s Hospital in Pendleton on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.

The hospitalizations come as Umatilla County reports about 8% of the state’s total number of cases in the past two weeks when it represents just 2% of its population, the East Oregonian reported. The county’s case rate during that time was more than seven times that of the heavily populated counties of Multnomah and Washington in Oregon.

Umatilla County has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Oregon, with less than 40% of residents fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Oregon Health Authority reported this week that statewide hospitalizations reached the highest totals since April with 259, up 52 from Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, the Oregon Health Authority’s webpage monitoring hospital bed capacity showed that of the three hospital regions east of the Cascades, there were only eight care unit beds. Intensives available on 81.

In Pendleton, CHI St. Anthony Hospital reported a “significant increase” in positive COVID-19 cases over the past week, approaching record numbers from last winter, spokeswoman Emily Smith said in an email.

Local hospitals sometimes refer critically ill patients to other facilities for a higher standard of care. But regional hospitals were unable to accept transfers because they are full of patients, Smith said.

For one patient in need of a transfer, health workers contacted 15 hospitals before finding one with an available bed, Smith said.

On Monday, the medical director of the hospital’s emergency department reported a threefold increase in the number of patients who tested positive on the ward over the previous five days, Smith said. On Friday and Saturday, about 40% of patients who presented to hospital with symptoms of COVID-19 tested positive. None had been vaccinated against COVID-19, Smith said.