Oregon DHS expands COVID-19 recovery unit network; Bend facility among 8, totaling 238 beds

At long-term care facilities goal is to add flexibility, ease demand for hospital beds

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Oregon Department of Human Services announced Thursday it has expanded its network of COVID-19 Recovery Units to eight long-term care facilities statewide, including a 20-bed Bend unit, to ensure Oregonians have access to care with the spread of the Delta variant.

These dedicated units, located within existing licensed long-term care facilities, give the state more flexibility in responding to COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities and help ease demand for hospital beds statewide. Five of the units will also provide monoclonal antibody therapy which can prevent an individual infected with COVID-19 from experiencing severe complications and symptoms.  

Facilities with a total of 238 beds under contract to maintain a COVID-19 Recovery unit are:

• Avamere Riverpark, Eugene, 21 beds and monoclonal antibody therapy;
• Avamere at Three Fountains, Medford, 30 beds and monoclonal antibody therapy;
• Bend Transitional Care, Bend, 20 beds and monoclonal antibody therapy;
• Rose Haven Nursing Center, Roseburg, 20 beds;
• Salem Transitional Care, Salem, 16 beds and monoclonal antibody therapy;
• The Pearl at Kruse Way, Lake Oswego, 45 beds and monoclonal antibody therapy;
• The Springs at Willowcreek, Salem, 16 beds; and
• Pacific Health & Rehabilitation, Tigard, 70 beds.

The number of beds under contract could fluctuate as needs evolve statewide.

The ODHS Office of Aging and People with Disabilities selected facilities based on their ability to care for individuals with COVID-19 in a dedicated area that is separated from other residents and their capacity to provide the number of beds needed in a region. During the previous surge in COVID-19 cases at the end of 2020 and early 2021, ODHS had maintained contracts for seven COVID-19 Recovery Units and more than 1,300 Oregonians were served; from August through Sept. 5 of this year, 212 Oregonians have been served.

These dedicated units fill the following needs:  

• Provide care and services to residents of long-term care facilities that are in crisis due to staffing shortages. This can be because they are not able to effectively cohort COVID-19 positive residents, with dedicated staff, because they lack enough direct-care workers facility-wide.  
• Provide care for COVID-19 positive Oregonians with long-term care needs who have been discharged from the hospital and are still COVID-19 positive. 
• Serve as a care setting for COVID-19 positive Oregonians who do not require hospitalization and are unable to have their care needs met in their current home. 
• Assist with long-term care staffing and bed shortages statewide by preventing individual facilities from having to each set up their own dedicated COVID-19 wing with dedicated staff.

“Re-establishing a statewide network of COVID-19 Recovery Units is essential to the state’s effort to best use available care resources during the current surge in COVID-19 cases. Care providers of all types face staffing shortages and this network represents a collaboration that maximizes available direct-care employees,” said Mike McCormick, interim director of the ODHS Office of Aging and People with Disabilities. “These units also serve a crucial need in rural areas where care options may be limited.”