State prepares Oregon Medical Station
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Soldiers with the Oregon National Guard CERFP set up large tents at the Oregon Veterans' Home in Lebanon, Oregon to provide shelter for a temporary COVID-19 testing site, March 17, 2020. The site will be used to test the more than 200 staff and caregivers that work at the Lebanon facility. (U.S. Army National Guard photos by Sgt. 1st Class Zachary Holden, Oregon Military Department Public Affairs Office)
SALEM, Ore. - The Oregon Health Authority, together with the Oregon Military Department, is assembling the Oregon Medical Station (OMS) beginning Friday, March 19, at the Salem Fairgrounds. The OMS is a temporary mobile facility dedicated for emergency use in situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. The mobile facility will provide an alternate site for 250 patients currently in nursing home care.
Oregon National Guardsmen have also been constructing temporary sites at Camp Rilea and at the Oregon Veterans Home.
The OMS is one component of Oregon’s larger emergency preparedness plan. Here is a snapshot of the facility:
It will include beds, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and equipment to support 250 patients.
It which will be staffed by members of the State Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Oregon (SERV-OR) and the Oregon Disaster Medical Team (ODMT).
It will have staffing for 24/7 operations.
It will be housed in the Jackson Long building at the Salem Fairgrounds in a state-owned building.
It will use dedicated supplies that have been stored in Salem at the State and Federal Surplus Property.
Military members from the Oregon Military Department, SERV-OR and ODMT have previous joint training experience for disaster-type events. All three groups have participated in an annual exercise known as Pathfinder-Minuteman, which presents multiple scenarios where first responders have causalities in need of immediate medical treatment.
Workers from the Oregon Military Department, state maintenance staff from Camp Rilea, and Providence Seaside Hospital maintenance crews, help erect military tents at the emergency entrance parking lot at the Providence Seaside Hospital, March 18, 2020. The tents will be used for testing and triaging members of the local community who may have fallen ill from the COVID-19 virus. (Oregon National Guard photos by Tech. Sgt. Aaron Perkins, Oregon National Guard Public Affairs)
Members of the Oregon Military Department have also provided assistance establishing a specialized facility at the Oregon Veterans home in Lebanon, Ore. and at Camp Rilea in Warrenton, Ore.
Kelly Fitzpatrick, director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, said, “At the Lebanon Veterans’ Home, our highest priority remains the health and safety of our honored residents and hard-working staff. We are grateful to our partners at the Oregon National Guard and the Oregon Health Authority for their ongoing support in helping us continue to follow established infectious disease prevention protocols and public health guidelines.
Source: Oregon Health Authority / Oregon Military Department