Hospitalized Burns couple with COVID-19 have to say their goodbyes over video call

(Update: Correcting hospital policy)

'It has been the hardest. We aren’t going to be able to see my dad again -- I’m sure of it.'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)--Burns resident Carolyn Ellis is leaving Bend feeling defeated.

Ellis drove to Bend after both her parents were flown by air ambulance from Burns to St. Charles Bend over the weekend due to medical emergencies.

While in the hospital, both parents tested positive for COVID-19.

Ellis's mom, 75, was discharged Wednesday afternoon, and was ordered to go straight home and get some rest -- while her dad, 77, is not expected to survive his COVID-19 diagnosis, because his pneumonia and diabetes reduce his odds of recovering.

“I just wanted my mom to be able to see him before he left, and it’s not the case,” Ellis said.

With strict safety measures in place at St. Charles Bend, no one was able to say goodbye in person before they started the two-hour drive back home.

“It has been the hardest. We aren’t going to be able to see my dad again -- I’m sure of it,” Ellis said.

Although Ellis’s dad was given a grim diagnosis, it didn’t qualify him to have in-person visitors.

Lisa Goodman, St. Charles' public information officer, said a COVID patient is only allowed a visitor if that patient is on "comfort care" (end of life care). Otherwise, they are not allowed any visitors. (Other patients who have not tested positive for COVID-19 can have two visitors a day.)

The last time Ellis's parents were able to be together in person was on Friday afternoon, as her mom was wheeled out of their home for the trip to the hospital.

The family members were able to see Ellis’s dad through a video call set up by the hospital Tuesday night.

But Ellis still feels frustrated by the fact that the hospital didn’t allow the decades-married couple to say their goodbyes in person.

“They were both in the hospital. Why can’t she say goodbye while we’re here? Because she can’t come back. We all know that,” Ellis said. “We live two hours away, so being realistic, she’s not going to be able to come back.”

Ellis reached out to NewsChannel 21 to share her story, in hopes that the hospital can make an exception for the next family put in a difficult situation during the pandemic.

“My parents are everything to us. And not being able to see him and not being able to say goodbye, not telling him that we love him? It’s just been excruciating,” Ellis said.