Columbia Memorial Hospital | Annual Report 2020

Kelley Crusius, FNP-C Melanie Vaughan, RN Spirit of Caring Awards Every year, CMH celebrates exceptional caregivers with the Spirit of Caring Awards. These caregivers have gone above and beyond to provide excellent, person-centered care. CMH’s 2020 Spirit of Caring Award winners were Kelley Crusius, FNP-C, of the CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative, and Melanie Vaughan, RN, from the CMH Emergency Department. Here’s what their colleagues said about them: “Kelley goes above and beyond daily. She has come in on weekends to support patients and families, spending hours with them to provide comfort. She is one of the Cancer Collaborative’s best assets and a great patient advocate.” “Melanie constantly goes the extra mile for patients, trying to make their experience in the ED a good one. One time, a patient came in without shoes and was going to leave that way. Melanie gave the patient the shoes off her feet. She is kind, compassionate and meets patients where they are at.” In November, the CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative received a rare honor. It was awarded Cancer Center Accreditation from the Commission on Cancer (CoC). There are fewer than 10 critical access hospitals in the United States that hold this designation. The recognition for the three-year-old Cancer Collaborative demonstrates the organization’s commitment to high-quality, coordinated care. “We have an extraordinary team at the Cancer Center who care for their patients as they would their own family members,” CMH CEO Erik Thorsen says. “Earning this designation from the Commission on Cancer validates their hard work and serves to further our mission to improve the health of our community by providing exceptional health care.” Mark O’Hollaren, MD, Vice President of Clinical Outreach at OHSU, lauds the achievement. “This center will serve patients long after all of us are gone, and for that reason, the teams at CMH and OHSU should be incredibly proud,” he says. “The Astoria community rallied behind the hard work of all of you in a way that I have not seen before. You leave a legacy for your community that will make a big difference for a very long time.” HEAR FOR YOURSELF how compassionate cancer care can make a difference. Visit columbiamemorial.org/podcast-surviving-cancer , or search for “Hands on Health” wherever you listen to podcasts. Cancer Collaborative receives sought-after accreditation COVID-19 TESTING Jarrod Karnofski, DPT, Vice President of Ancillary & Support Services We have implemented multiple avenues to test for COVID-19. Early on, a CMH courier often made multiple trips per day to the Portland area to deliver samples. At times, it could take up to 96 hours (four days) to get results from these tests. We partnered with Clatsop County to improve access to COVID-19 testing. We were able to obtain a small supply of tests we could process at the hospital in less than two hours. By the fall of 2020, we had tests in our Urgent Care Clinics that we could process on-site in less than 20 minutes . At our busiest, we were testing an average of 80 people per weekday . Eventually, we opened a dedicated testing site where people could get a test without seeing a provider first. To be prepared to go weeks or months with limited new supplies coming in, we have increased our stock of items that we would need in bulk during a pandemic. To schedule a COVID-19 test at CMH, call 503-338-4656 . 85,244 clinic visits 1,800 inpatient visits 131,276 outpatient visits COLUMBIAMEMORIAL.ORG 2020 ANNUAL REPORT 9