Santiam Hospital Community Forum on COVID-19 via Facebook Live
If You Think You May Have Coronavirus
If you think you have the symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19) please get a hold of our new respiratory care center by calling the Santiam Hospital COVID-19 Help Line at (503) 769-1999 or access our new Telehealth program if you are a patient with a Santiam Hospital primary care physician.
- Do not wait until you are severely ill to seek medical care. If you think you have symptoms of COVID-19 please get in touch with the new respiratory care center by calling the Santiam Hospital COVID-19 Help Line at (503) 769-1999. Alternatively, call your primary care provider or 211.
- Santiam Hospital and some other healthcare providers are utilizing Zoom Video Conferencing for Telehealth appointments. The Zoom app is free to use, and is available on tablets, smartphones, and through your web browser.
- Symptoms of Coronavirus are dry coughing, fever, shortness of breath, and fatigue.
What We Know About COVID-19
- Transmission
- There is a latency phase in which you are infectious but do not yet showing symptoms. Some studies have indicated that up to half of those infected with COVID-19 do not have fevers. You can be asymptotic and spread it unknowingly, so please stay home if you can.
- Coronavirus is droplet-borne, not airborne; do your best to cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough and reserve masks for those with symptoms, the immunosuppressed, and healthcare professionals.
- Soap and water kill the virus. Wash your hands frequently for 20 seconds, and when soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer. Wipe down surfaces with soap and water or household disinfectants often. Wash fruits and vegetables with soap and water.
- Wearing a mask in public is not as effective as staying home. Please try to limit how often you leave the house by only shopping when necessary, maintaining social distancing, and working from home if you are able.
- It is currently considered safe to return to normal activities 14 days after the onset of symptoms, but if you are still coughing please stay home.
- The virus does not appear to spread by the GI tract or through the blood. Medical professionals are looking to confirm this.
- Epidemiologists and other healthcare professionals are fairly sure you cannot get COVID-19 after contracting it once, but this virus is entirely new (novel) and we are still learning about it.
- Risk
- If you have asthma, COPD, cancer, lupus, or are otherwise immunosuppressed you are at higher risk of contracting and having complications due to Coronavirus.
- About 20% of people that get COVID-19 need hospitalization, and half of those people need treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Contact your healthcare provider as soon as you recognize symptoms, and follow their direction about when, where, and how to go in for testing and treatment.
- There have been documented cases of pregnant women having COVID-19. It is noteworthy to say that this virus seems to mostly spare children.
- Symptoms & Treatment
- The virus overwhelms the lungs. Symptoms can include a cough, a fever, shortness of breath, fatigue, and more. Contact your healthcare provider or the Santiam Hospital COVID-19 Help Line at (503) 769 1999 if you think you have symptoms.
- There is no specific treatment other than to rest and increase your fluid intake.
COVID-19 Testing
The state still has limited testing and are only testing people that are symptomatic – meaning they have a fever, cough, or shortness of breath. Testing is available at the ER and Santiam Hospital’s new respiratory clinic. Santiam Hospital cannot test on-site for now, but they are working on being able to soon. Tests currently take 3-4 days for results. Once onsite testing begins the results should be available in a couple of hours. **Salem Hospital has reported they have no tests available until mid-April.**
Local Prevalence of COVID-19
There are documented cases of COVID-19 in Stayton and Sublimity. There have been cases at Marion Estates. The presence of the virus does not reflect poorly on the nursing home itself, as Marion Estates has a high number of high-risk individuals in their care. The hospital has check in on Marion Estates patients and as of now, no patients are in critical condition. There are several cases at the Oregon Veteran’s Home in Lebanon; thirteen patients at the Oregon Veteran’s Home have now recovered from Coronavirus.
Flattening the Curve
Staying home to save lives and to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus seems to be working according to the model from Washington State University. When the original model was run, it predicted the peak of the spread of COVID-19 to be on April 24th, 2020. When the model was run again with current numbers the model predicts May 3rd, 2020 as the date the spread of the virus will peak. This is actually a very good thing. Staying home is working to help reduce the spread so our hospitals are not overwhelmed and unable to meet the needs of our community. It is impossible to say with certainty that this virus will just go away and never come back. The social distancing will alleviate the peak of the virus so our hospitals can handle the load of sick patients.
Treatment for COVID-19
At this time there are no evidence-based pharmaceutical treatments for COVID-19, as there is not enough data to support any findings.
- Antivirals have not been found to be effective.
- Antibiotics have not been found to be effective.
- The medication commonly used to treat malaria has not been proven effective.
- A pneumonia vaccine does not prevent the virus but could prevent subsequent pneumonia infections.
- If an effective vaccine is created it will not be available for approved use for at least 18 months due to required testing of vaccinations.
What the Santiam Hospital Has Done to Respond to COVID-19
- Major elective surgeries have been postponed.
- ICU capacity has been increased.
- Backup teams of providers have been organized.
- Staff have received additional training for proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and infection control.
- Visitation has been restricted at the hospital.
- Only one visitor is allowed to see a patient at a time. Visitors will be screened by staff who will ask various questions, take visitors’ temperature, and provide a mask. Wearing a mask in public is simply not as effective as staying home.
Want to Help Your Community?
- Stay home (if you can). How long this lasts and how bad it gets depends on what we do right now. Each and every one of us has the ability to help by practicing social distancing by remaining at least 6 feet away from others not within your household at all times.
- Wash your hands often and for at least 20 seconds each time.
- Don’t touch your face.
- Stop shaking hands. Practice social distancing.
- Please check on your neighbors (from a safe distance of at least 6 feet away at all times). Besides staying home, the next best way to help Santiam Hospital is by simply helping each other. Please help your neighbors that might not be internet or technology savvy and call to check up on them (don’t go in person).
- If you are able, consider grocery shopping or running other essential errands for elderly and immunocompromised individuals when you make your own essential errand run.
- Take care of yourself! This is an uncertain time for all of us.
- Things that you can do to relieve stress right now is going for a walk or run while practicing social distancing, gardening, talking to friends and family over the phone or on virtual platforms that are free (like Zoom). Seeing someone’s face can help you make sure your loved ones are actually healthy and not hiding an illness to tough it out. Again, if you are having shortness of breath please seek treatment.
- It is okay to go to the grocery store, but please stay six feet apart from others in the store. When going to the grocery store try to go during off hours. Wash your hands when you leave the grocery store, and remember to really keep a distance of 6 feet from everyone including the store employees. Many people’s behaviors have already changed, so if you do not participate in social distancing, you may not like the facial expressions or reaction of the person physically moving themselves farther away from you.
- If you are sick please use a grocery delivery service; or, if that is not an available option for you, please call the COVID-19 help line and ask the team to help you. The phone number for the Santiam Hospital COVID-19 Help Line is (503) 769-1999.
Want to Help the Santiam Hospital Directly?
- Practice social distancing. Staying home and staying away from others as much as possible will help slow the spread of COVID-19 and ease the strain on our healthcare professionals and the Santiam Hospital.
- If you have Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at home in its original packaging please consider donating it to the Santiam Hospital. They have accepted items that were purchased over five years ago. If you have questions on whether or not they can accept something please email giving@santiamhospital.org and they can provide you with some guidance. Most shortages for PPE are masks right now. The hospital has a healthy supply of gloves at the moment.
- The Santiam Hospital is accepting homemade masks. They have sewing kits available to pick up if you would like to help with this. They come with instructions and each mask takes approximately 15 minutes to sew. Some people are helping the hospital by making 3D printed face shields.
- If you are looking for other ways to support the community during this time please contact the Service Integration Team by emailing SITmobile@santiamhospital.org and they will let you know their current support needs.
Santiam Hospital is so very thankful for the fantastic support from the community, and the staff are deeply appreciative. Stay safe, stay home, and if you have a problem, Santiam Hospital is available to you.