Grande Ronde Hospital staff members perform a nasal swab test on a patient in this undated file photo. The hospital announced that OHA would host a free testing event on Aug. 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Bi-Mart parking lot in La Grande.

LA GRANDE — Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics announced the activation of its Hospital Incident Command System on Tuesday, Aug. 24, as a result of the recent COVID-19 surge.

The Oregon Health Authority will be holding several free community-wide testing events in the wake of hospital bed capacity concerns and shortages in testing supplies across the state. As of OHA’s report on Aug. 24, there are 45 ICU beds available out of 667 in Oregon.

OHA is holding the testing events in support of community hospitals around the state.

The first testing event is scheduled for Aug. 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lot of Bi-Mart, 2510 Adams Ave., La Grande. The hospital will be hosting the testing event every Tuesday starting on Aug. 31, and extending through September. The free event is aimed for asymptomatic and symptomatic people who will be tested with the polymerase chain reaction viral test.

OHA highly recommends preregistering for the testing events, but it is not required. For any registration questions, OHA can be contacted. Registration for the testing event can be found at www.doineedacovid19test.com.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect a correction. The article previously stated that Grande Ronde Hospital is hosting the community testing events, when it is actually the Oregon Health Authority holding the public testing events.