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SENIOR TIMES • APRIL 2020
APRIL 2020 Volume 8 • Issue 4
Washington adding more hospital beds in coronavirus fight By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
See list of stores offering senior shopping times Page 3
Here’s how to help coronavirus efforts in the Tri-Cities Pages 7-9
Family’s foundation strives to put more kindness into world Page 12
MONTHLY QUIZ Who is the Academy Award winning cinematographer for the movie “Hud” born in Guangzhou, China, in 1899 and who immigrated with his family to Pasco that same year? Answer, Page 13
The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating a health crisis that has claimed more than 120 rural hospitals in recent years. But it is also raising the fortunes of at least one closed Yakima hospital and begs the question: Will more reopen? As Washington residents adapt to Gov. Jay Inslee’s Stay Home Stay Healthy order to stay home to slow the spread of coronavirus, the state is racing to add more hospital beds to handle the influx of patients. The Washington Department of Health announced emergency steps that will add hundreds of beds to the system, including 250 in Yakima, where the bankrupt Astria Regional Medical closed in January. Astria Health has filed notice with bankruptcy court that the state will lease the closed hospital for $1.5 million a month and reopen it as a “surge” facility to handle anticipated patient demand from COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. The health department expects to receive two 150-bed hospitals and six 40bed hospitals from the Department of Defense, which likely will be sited in Pierce, Snohomish and King counties. The state also has bought 1,000 beds that are ready to be positioned within the current system. The race to boost capacity may be good news for closed hospitals but is likely temporary. Health officials initially played down the possibility of reopening closed facilities, saying their focus was on bolstering the capacity of current medical facilities. That said, it didn’t rule out pressing closed hospitals into service. uHOSPITAL BEDS, Page 14
Courtesy Meals on Wheels Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels staff and volunteers wear masks and gloves to prepare frozen meals to distribute to Tri-City area senior citizens.
Meals on Wheels ramps up frozen meal production to feed seniors By Kristina Lord
publisher@tcjournal.biz
Though Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels’ eight dining centers shut down daily hot lunch service and drivers have curtailed meal delivery to seniors’ doorsteps, the nonprofit’s staff and volunteers have been busy assembling frozen meals. “We’re not planning to go anywhere. We’ve been here 46 years, and although these are scary times, we’re here for them. We are 100 percent committed to our seniors and their loved ones who rely on us to provide nutrition, support and friendship. We appreciate the support of
our community and the faith they show in us,” said Kristi Thien, nutrition services director. The nonprofit cooked and packaged more than 11,000 frozen meals during the week of March 27. Thien said the team typically cooks about 3,400 meals a week. “Each of those meals requires product to be ordered, put away, cooked and then chilled, packaged, and boxed to be placed in our freezers. We’re working crazy hard to ensure that we have plenty of meals, and we want people to know that nobody needs to hoard them,” Thien said. uMEALS ON WHEELS, Page 3
Picking up phone may help seniors feel less isolated during outbreak By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
As Tri-Citians adapt to a statewide order to stay at home to combat the spread of the coronavirus, organizations serving seniors are racing to support those hit heaviest by the new normal. Those age 60 and over, particularly those with underlying conditions such as heart or lung disease, are the most vulnerable to COVID-19, the potentially deadly disease caused by the new virus. While details are still sketchy, the effort comes with a call to action for everyone: Pick up the phone.
Check in with family, friends and colleagues. Use the phone. Listen, attentively. It remains uncertain why seniors are most vulnerable and by extension, facing the most extreme forms of isolation. But they are. “It just seems apparent that it affects older people more, especially those with lung or heart disease,” said Dr. Wayne McCormack, professor and division head and William E. Colson endowed chairman in gerontology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. uISOLATED, Page 5
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PASCO, WA PERMIT NO. 8778