LA GRANDE — For the last several months, the 25 beds at Grande Ronde Hospital have been plenty for the county’s low COVID-19 rates. But with rates rising in recent weeks, the hospital has been stretching its resources thin.

As the county’s only hospital, Grande Ronde has taken on the responsibility of bringing COVID-19 patients from other smaller hospitals in Eastern Oregon, such as Wallowa Memorial Hospital.

And with Union County — along with the rest of the state — facing an increase in cases, the hospital is seeing a spike in COVID-19 patients.

“We know the delta variant is highly contagious and more efficient in transmissions. We are experiencing that reality first hand and it has led to an increase in hospitalized patients, which will in turn affect hospital bed availability,” Mardi Ford, director of communications and marketing at Grande Ronde Hospital, said in an email.

In the last three weeks, Union County saw an 800% increase in positive cases, from 11 cases on the week of July 12 to 101 cases the week of July 26, according to Ford.

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 weekly workplace outbreak report on Aug. 4 showed Grande Ronde Hospital had 12 total COVID-19 cases between July 15 and July 27.

“While we are understandably disappointed in the news, it is important to be reminded how quickly these cases have escalated over the past month,” Ford said.

Although the county is seeing a spike in patients, Ford said that hospital administration does not anticipate bed capacity reaching 100% or any delays in service.

“At this point, however, we are managing well. It’s what we do. We know how to prepare for emergencies,” she said.

Other hospitals in Eastern Oregon are facing a similar situation. At CHI St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton, roughly two-thirds of the hospital’s inpatients over the past week tested positive for COVID-19, and more than a quarter of patients admitted to the emergency department had the virus, the East Oregonian reported on Aug. 5.

Of the 25 intensive care unit beds across six counties in Eastern Oregon, only three were available on Aug. 6, according to OHA.

Cases going up

Between July 28 and Aug. 5, Union County reported an average of 13.2 cases each day, a 776% increase from the average between June 1 and July 15.

Along with this, four COVID-related deaths were reported on Aug. 4, raising the county’s pandemic death total to 28.

These high rates make Union County an area of “extremely high risk,” according to public health experts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Across the country, and internationally, many areas seeing high transmission rates have brought back requirements for masks, social distancing and more.

However, Union County officials have no such plans.

According to Union County Commissioner Matt Scarfo, county and health officials met on Aug. 4 to discuss the possibility of bringing back COVID-19 restrictions, but no changes were made.

“If anybody wants to wear masks, that is their right to do so,” he said.

Scarfo added that to bring back restrictions, “we’ll have to discuss it with the experts, the experts will advise us. We are in constant contact with each other.”

In high-risk areas, experts recommend bringing back restrictions to slow the spread of the virus.

“Physical distancing, masking, good health hygiene, those mitigation factors work and have been proven to be very effective,” said Dr. Bukhosi Dube, senior health advisor for the Oregon Health Authority. “As a public health official, my personal opinion is that that is the right thing to do.”

Vaccine rates stall

Out of 36 counties in the state, Union County ranks fifth highest in COVID-19 case rates while also ranking fifth lowest in vaccination rates for total population, according to data compiled by the New York Times.

All of the available vaccines have been proven to slow the spread of the virus, but rates in recent weeks have lowered to about 18 full vaccinations per day.

To reach OHA’s goal of vaccinating 80% of adults in Union County, this number would have to increase to 254 every day until Aug. 31 — a 1,461% increase in daily inoculations.

“The county and state have been trying to answer people’s questions and concerns and trying to encourage vaccination in all populations,” Dube said. “This is a preventable disease, but the fact that we have so many cases, it highlights that we need to get more people vaccinated.”

Workplace outbreaks in Union County

In addition to the workplace outbreak at Grande Ronde Hospital, the Oregon Health Authority disclosed two other workplaces in Union County facing active COVID-19 outbreaks in its Aug. 4 outbreak report.

One of those workplaces is a nursing home, according to the state.

The state publishes an active outbreak in nursing homes if the facility reports more than three cases. The outbreak is considered resolved if no new cases are reported within 28 days of the last case.

• Wildflower Lodge Assisted Living Community, La Grande, has reported five COVID-19 cases since July 18, according to the state. There have been no reported deaths.

In addition, the state publishes a workplace outbreak when five or more cases are reported at a facility with 30 or more workers. Like nursing homes, the outbreak is considered resolved if no new cases are reported within 28 days of the last case.

The state also reported this workplace outbreak:

• Miller’s Home Center, La Grande, reported 16 cases between its first reported case on June 29 and its most recent onset case on July 20.