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Health experts ask people to take action to lower risk for children as RSV, flu cases push hospitals to brink State health officials are asking people to take immediate, urgent action to protect children and ensure there are pediatric intensive care beds available in Oregon hospitals to treat any child or youth with a serious illness or injury. Oregon health officials expect respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases to peak after the Thanksgiving holiday, which will further strain pediatric hospital intensive care units in the Portland area that are already at their limit. In response to Oregon’s acute shortage of pediatric intensive care beds, state health officials recommend that people: Stay home when sick. Cover coughs and sneezes with the inside of your elbow, or with a

tissue that you immediately throw away after use. Clean and disinfect all hightouch surfaces, including doorknobs, faucets, chairs, countertops and tables. Regularly wash hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer, especially after coughing or sneezing into a tissue. Get a ﬂu shot and stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including new bivalent boosters. There is no vaccine for RSV. Consider wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces. The recommendations come as at least two Portland-area hospitals – Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University and Randall Children’s Hospital

at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center – notiﬁed OHA they have enacted crisis standards of care for their pediatric intensive care units. Crisis care standards allow hospitals to adjust their stafﬁng to help treat as many critically ill children in the state as possible. Patrick Allen, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) said, “Oregon children’s hospitals are pushed to the limit. If you have young children and they get sick, there may not be a hospital bed for them. Our recommendations are a call to action for Oregonians to help slow the spread of respiratory disease and make sure no child’s life is put at risk because every pediatric ICU bed in our state is full with another seriously ill kid.”

“Multiple respiratory infections circulating in our community are of great concern to all of us in health care, says Providence St. Vincent Medical Center’s Genevieve Buser, MDCM, a pediatric infectious disease specialist. “Children have been especially hard hit, and we are caring for unprecedented numbers of very sick young people in our hospitals, immediate care facilities, and clinics. Right now, more than half of our kids sick enough to be hospitalized have RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), and almost all of those are babies less than 6 months of age. It causes babies to need oxygen to breathe, and even stop breathing.” Dr. Buser added that since the Oregon region is in a crisis for

critical pediatric hospital beds, “we should do what we can as a community to slow transmission to our most vulnerable neighbors,” including getting COVID and flu vaccinations. “Older adults, too--especially those with chronic lung disease-can become very ill with RSV, in addition to COVID and flu.” State health officials are working with hospitals to bring additional nurses into Oregon from out of state. OHA officials also are pursuing health care volunteers through Serv-OR, the state’s emergency volunteer registry. In addition, OHA is providing hospitals with recent legislatively appropriated funds to aid staffing. Please see RSV, Page A8

Christmas is coming to North Bend North Bend will turn into a winter wonderland Saturday as the city celebrates the Christmas season with a full day worth of activities. The fun will start at 9 a.m. at the North Bend Fire Department with Wafﬂes with Santa, followed by Story Time with Mrs. Claus at 10 a.m. at the North Bend Library. From 1-3 p.m., the city will celebrate Christmas on Main Street and from 3-5, there will be a Holiday Block Party near City Hall. At 5 p.m., Mayor Jessica Engelke will light the city’s Christmas tree and the day will cap off with a lighted Truck Parade from 6:30 to 7 p.m. Photos by David Rupkalvis/For The World

Waterfall Clinic expanding to Coos Bay Village the need, but they were unable to find a location. That's when Nelson turned to Coos Bay Village. “I had dreams of utilizing space at the new Coos Bay Village, but imagined it was well out of our reach financially” Nelson said. With few options, Nelson reached out to developer Greg Drobot and found he had always envisioned some sort of medical services being delivered at his new complex and was eager to make the opportunity work out for all involved. Drobot said Coos Bay Village was designed as a true mixed use “community village”, somewhere the community would work, shop, eat, and get services they need. " When Lance came to me with his vision, I was excited to help him design a space that fit the needs of the Waterfall Clinic, and at the same time enhance Coos Bay Village’s community village goal," Drobot said. " Fantastic waterfront views, high visibility from Highway 101, and new customizable spaces really make this partnership a win win for all involved. I am very honored to have Waterfall Clinic as the newest business to join the Coos Bay Village community.” When the financial minds had finished negotiating terms, Nelson was ecstatic to learn that the clinic’s dreams of expansion could happen financially and Waterfall’s Board of Directors was convinced this was a great investment into the community. Construction began in mid November and will allow Waterfall to expand from its current mental health building housing five offices

BY DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Contributed photo

Lance Nelson, chief innovation officer for Waterfall Clinic, stands in front of what will soon be the mental health center for the clinic.

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With a growing need for mental health care in Coos County, the Waterfall Clinic is planning to expand to meet the need. Lance Nelson, chief innovation officer for Waterfall Clinic, said Waterfall recently signed a lease at Coos Bay Village to expand its mental health services. When the build-to-suit facility is complete, Waterfall will be able to quadruple the number of patients it sees daily while maintaining its existing clinics in North Bend, Coos Bay and the Starfish Autism Clinic. The existing small mental health office near the Waterfall medical clinic in North Bend will be closed, but services in the remaining three clinics, including mental health services, will remain in place. Nelson said Waterfall recently hired a new psychiatric nurse practitioner and plans to offer two more in the next few months. With the new nurse practitioners, who can all prescribe medication, as well several new therapists, Waterfall needed a bigger space to offer mental health services. CEO Andrea Trenner said the need for more services and the ability to find providers left Waterfall in a predicament. “Despite sincere efforts of the community to increase mental health services, we knew there were many more people needing therapy and medication management” she said. Over the last few months, Waterfall looked at every available property in Coos Bay and North Bend, hat was big enough to meet

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