Mandate requiring masks in hospitals, medical sites ended April 3

Apr. 5—LA GRANDE — State mask mandates in health care settings are a thing of the past in Oregon, as the state's mask requirements ended Monday, April 3.

State health officials announced the changes about a month ago as a coordinated effort to end one of the most steadfast regulations of the pandemic.

"We are very happy this day is here," GRH's Public Information Officer Mardi Ford said following the hospital's lifting of the masking requirements. "It's nice to walk down the halls and see people's full, smiling faces."

However, people will still see masks in health care settings, Ford said, adding there are always going to be individuals who wear masks in health care settings, such as surgeons or providers treating patients with respiratory illnesses.

Some providers, staff members and patients may still choose to wear masks, she added.

Ford said the hospital discourages people who are sick with respiratory illnesses from coming in to visit patients. Those who are sick and seeking treatment for a respiratory illness are encouraged, but not required, to wear a mask.

"We're not going to mandate them," Ford said.

Sheri Kilburg, a scheduler at the La Grande VA Clinic, said no patients wore masks at the clinic on April 3 and April 4 but that several staff members did. Masks are still available at the front desk of the clinic for patients.

"You just have to ask," Kilburg said.

Smiles all around

The staff at CHI St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton, celebrated the end of the state's mask mandate with a photo booth.

Lynn Adams, of Kennewick, Washington, owner of Adams Phototainment, set up the photo booth at the hospital so people there could capture the moment.

Emily Smith, spokesperson for St. Anthony, said staff would continue to wear masks during treatment but otherwise could go without.

Good Shepherd Health Care System announced it was following the advisements from the Oregon Health Authority and Occupational Safety and Health Administration that ended the mask wearing requirement at medical facilities. Brian Patrick, vice president of nursing at Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston, called it "the day that we all thought would never come."

"Entering the facility without a mask seemed very foreign," Patrick stated in a press release from Good Shepherd. "Seeing co-workers without a mask performing everyday tasks did not seem real. The joy in the staffs' eyes is apparent. The ability to smile at our patients had been lost, but now is found. To feel human again. What a wonderful day it is."

Patrick noted that when masks became a requirement in February 2020, no one had any idea of what lay ahead. Staff were scared but stuck together and did their jobs, he said.

"In March 2022, we saw the masks come off in the public sector. It was a joyous occasion after over two years of masking and isolation for everyone," he said. "And yet, in the health care arena, workers were still laboring every day with additional COVID variants and subsequent outbreaks."

Masking and personal protective equipment remained the norm at hospitals, and at times the outlook seemed grim, Patrick said, as exhaustion and burnout took a toll on staff.

At Good Shepherd, patients and visitors to the hospital campus are asked to wear a mask if seeking treatment for respiratory symptoms. Individuals who are sick but not seeking treatment should avoid visiting patients in the hospital until no longer having symptoms. And health care workers at Good Shepherd who still wish to wear a mask may do so, according to Patrick.

Morrow County Health District CEO Emily Roberts also said masks are no longer required at its facilities unless patients show symptoms. The district provides masks at request. It asks staff not to come to work if they have symptoms of any infectious disease, not just COVID-19.

The East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald contributed to this report.