St. Anthony Hospital declares ”internal disaster’ over staffing, respiratory infection surge

PENDLETON — The nurses union at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton has reported a surge of patients with respiratory infections is slamming the emergency department.

“The impact has been large,” said Rhonda Kenny, a nurse at St. Anthony Hospital and the local labor representative for the Oregon Nursing Association. “The emergency room is seeing double the usual amount of patients every day. People are leaving because they have waited so long to be seen. I have a nurse that has worked the last six days in a row. To try to help out she did her regular shifts in the operating room and then she picked up three shifts out on the surge floor.”