St. Charles Health System

This week a large group of St. Charles caregivers attended the Oregon Rural Health annual conference in Bend, where they enjoyed networking and sharing the great power of rural health in Oregon. The conference brings together more than 300 providers, policy-makers, public health, hospital and clinic leaders to explore topics of vital importance to Oregonians living in rural communities and to share challenges and solutions.

Hernias occur when part of your insides bulges through an opening or weakness in the muscle or tissue that contains it, and unfortunately it is a condition that can only be resolved through surgery. St. Charles General Surgeon John Land offers advice on how to avoid the risk of a hernia and what to do if you suspect you may have one.

Fall is in the air, and St. Charles President and CEO Dr. Steve Gordon encourages the community to stay healthy and get vaccinated. In the world of health care, fall also means the onset of what we used to call flu season, and now call respiratory illness season. Flu, COVID-19 and RSV are all common in our region, and each of them can cause serious illness that will wreck that camping weekend or ski vacation or holiday gathering or overseas trip you’ve been planning. Don’t let that happen. Protect yourself, protect your family and friends and protect your fun times by getting vaccinated. At St. Charles, our Family Care and Urgent Care clinics will begin administering flu and COVID vaccines to patients on Oct. 1. You can get more information on our Vaccines page: https://bit.ly/46d80Tn

A new vaccine to help protect infants from RSV is available for a second year, and it's showing remarkable promise in protecting infants under three months who are particularly vulnerable to the infection. “I believe these vaccines are working and helping to protect our vulnerable population of infants,” said Dr. Suzanne Mendez, pediatrician with St. Charles, who treats infants hospitalized with RSV each year. “And anecdotally for this past year, none of the babies with RSV on the Pediatric Unit were born to mothers who received the vaccine, so it appears to be very effective at preventing hospitalization.” In 2023, two new methods to shield infants from RSV became available: pregnant patients could get an RSV vaccine, which would give immunity to their babies when born; and monoclonal antibodies were available to give to newborns directly to protect them from contracting RSV. Both are reported to have high efficacy for preventing RSV in infants. “You can certainly help protect babies with this vaccine,” said Dr. Sarah Hellmann, OBGYN at St. Charles Center for Women's Health, who shared that the RSV vaccine decreased the risk of severe cases of RSV in infants by 81% for the first 90 days of life. “These vaccines are safe and decrease risks for babies." Learn more at our website: https://bit.ly/3THU7tc Photo: Dr. Sarah Hellmann, an OBGYN with St. Charles Center for Women’s Health, explains that about half of the pregnant patients she saw last year opted to receive the RSV vaccine and she’s hopeful that will increase this year as the vaccine and process become more widely known.

A spontaneous response to an ad in the newspaper turned into a cherished 25-year family tradition for Teresa Porraz and her family. When Grace Porraz saw the ad in 2000 for a new charity event called the Heaven Can Wait 5k to support breast cancer patients and survivors, she thought it could be a fun activity to do with her mother-in-law Teresa, who had recently recovered from breast cancer. The fundraiser, now put on by St. Charles Foundation, wasn’t something Teresa would normally do, but she decided to participate to support and celebrate other survivors. She didn’t anticipate how important the walk would become to her life personally. “We did that first walk and she was so proud that she had completed it after all the scary health stuff that she had been through,” said Grace. “When we saw that it came around again the next year we said ‘Yeah, this is going to be our thing, we’re going to do this every time.’” For 25 years, Teresa and Grace have never missed a race, even through a second bout with breast cancer and the Covid-19 pandemic. This year's walk will be especially meaningful for the family, not only as it marks the 25th anniversary of Heaven Can Wait, but also as Teresa, 72, was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer. For the first time they will be walking as a team called For Teresa, a name that going forward will honor and celebrate Teresa and her legacy long into the future. Read more of Teresa's story: https://bit.ly/47yFSfX Photo 1 (left to right): Grace, Teresa, Teresa's daughter Petra, and granddaughter Kayla (front) in 2002 Photo 2: Grace, white hat, and Grace, bottom right, with family members in 2021

This weekend our caregivers cheered as over 100 riders from the Central Oregon chapter of ABATE of Oregon visited our campuses for the 26th Annual Teddy Bear Run. The chapter and its riders donated and delivered over 3,400 new teddy bears and stuffed animals to the pediatric patients in St. Charles hospitals across Central Oregon! This event is one of our favorite traditions and we love the smiles it brings to our patients and caregivers!

We want to give a huge thank you to Subaru of Bend, who generously donated 200 blankets to the St. Charles Cancer Center as part of their partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Sierra, one of our lymphoma patients, was all smiles as she received her blanket during the drop-off.

This week is National Rehabilitation Awareness Week and we want to celebrate the amazing work that our OTs, PTs, and SLPs do for patients at St. Charles. Occupational Therapy (OT): Occupational therapists are like life navigators. They work with individuals of all ages who face physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges. Whether it’s recovering from an injury, managing a chronic condition, or adapting to life changes, OTs focus on empowering people to lead fulfilling lives. They help with everyday activities, and they are experts in assistive devices. Physical Therapy (PT): PT is all about movement. These superheroes address the effects of disease, injury, and disability by using exercises, manual techniques, education, and therapeutic activities. They’re the ones who help you regain strength, improve mobility, and manage pain. Speech-Language Pathology (SLP): SLPs are communication wizards. They prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat communication and swallowing disorders across the life span. They work on speech sound disorders (like nailing those tricky sounds), language difficulties (understanding and using spoken language), and even swallowing issues. Together, this rehab dream team—OTs, PTs, and SLPs—help patients regain function. They address impairments, whether it’s moving, speaking, eating, or dressing. Their mission? To get you back to your normal daily life, feeling empowered and ready to conquer the world. Shoutout to our incredible OTs, PTs, and SLPs! You’re not just therapists; you’re healers, motivators, and cheerleaders. Let’s celebrate the small victories—the first button fastened, the confident step taken, the word spoken. To our amazing patients: Your strength and determination inspire us every day. Share your rehab milestones with us! Whether it’s a new skill you’ve mastered or a goal you’ve achieved, we want to celebrate with you. Teams pictured: Outpatient oncology rehab , Occupational therapy, Inpatient rehab specialists, North Team rehab specialists (Redmond, Prineville, Madras), Outpatient PAS, Outpatient rehab Bend

What a gorgeous weekend for a picnic! We recently celebrated our incredible caregivers with an employee picnic at the beautiful Smith Rock Ranch. We are so grateful to all 4,900 St. Charles Health System employees for their dedication and hard work.

St. Charles treats over 100 patients a month for malnutrition, a serious health concern particularly among the elderly. Our Clinical Nutrition and Diabetes Management department has steps you and your loved ones can take to combat malnutrition.