Health & Medicine

UPDATE as of 3/15/20: The staff member's test for COVID-19 is negative, and the YMCA in Eugene will now open on April 1st, as sanitization efforts continue. 

Eugene’s YMCA is closed until Tuesday (3/17), pending a unidentified staff member’s test results for COVID-19.

While there are still no confirmed cases in Lane County, public health officials say they believe coronavirus is circulating in communities. So far, fewer than 28 tests have been ordered with negative results, an additional 5 samples are pending lab results. Folks need to know, getting the test is a process.

Oregon’s flu season peaked in mid-January but there is still widespread flu activity in communities, everywhere. Unlike COVID-19, there is a vaccine to protect against Influenza and health officials urge those who haven’t gotten a flu shot yet-- to do it.

The mobile crisis intervention group that serves Eugene-Springfield has expanded its service hours.

A group of Corvallis providers celebrated their 50th clinic last month. Together they offer free health services to two nearby farms in Philomath. Most of the workers on those farms are uninsured, work seasonally, and about half them are Hispanic/Latinx. The program gives patients access to care they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.

A regional bloodbank says it’s facing a shortage of donations. They’re encouraging people to give blood this weekend.

With the number of novel coronavirus cases on the rise in the Pacific Northwest, PeaceHealth hospitals have implemented voluntary visitation restrictions. The controls are more about prevention than panic. 

The Western Lane Health Network (WLHN) recently opened two centers -on school grounds- to offer early intervention and behavioral counseling to children and teens on the central Oregon coast.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants Americans to prepare for the spread of coronavirus. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert brings us an update on local prevention and preparedness tactics in Lane County.

A Lane County man who came home last week from a cruise ship under quarantine in a Cambodian port has been the object of shunning and criticism on social media. But, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Friday confirmed none of the crew or passengers on the cruise ship Westerdam ever had coronavirus. 

When PeaceHealth closed its Birth Center in Springfield last August, it left a gap in services for women. Now, a group of midwives plan to open a new free-standing center. 

Health professionals say despite some reports to the contrary, they’ve not found any actual cases of the novel Coronavirus in Lane County. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert reports on some preventative protocols in place at Sacred Heart RiverBend Medical Center in Springfield.

In 2018, Tiffany Eckert reported on a Springfield boy who was looking forward to getting prosthetic arms built with a 3-D printer. This is an update to that story.

PeaceHealth Oregon has confirmed plans to cut 40 jobs across their four hospitals in Lane County. This over strong objections from the union representing hospital workers. As KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert reports, many of the positions being eliminated are in the area of child delivery.

Several health groups and Native American tribes are backing a bill to expand dental care across Oregon.

On Thursday, The World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency. Lane County Public Health got a “crash-course” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to identify the deadly virus.

Five of the nurse midwives who were fired when Peacehealth closed its birth center—have new jobs. McKenzie Willamette hospital has hired them to run a midwifery service in Springfield.