~ Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter ~
Rotary Club of Newberg, Zoom Meeting
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
~ Zoom Meeting Participants ~
Shannon B, Mike, Dan, Joe, Patrick, Judy, Gene, Walter, Doug, Todd, Larry, Auggie, Lisa, Kathie, Laura, Paula, Shannon K, Paul, Amber, Denise, Jim, Amy, Brady, Om, Stan.
~ Call to Order ~
President Shannon Buckmaster welcomed Rotarians and Friends of Rotary to the Zoom meeting at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 24, 2021. The Rotarians split out into breakout groups to start the meeting.
~ Flag Salute ~
Walter lead participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.
~ 4 Way Test ~
Laura lead participants in the recital of the 4 Way Test:
Rotary’s Four Way Test of the things we think, say and do:
#1 – Is it the TRUTH?
#2 – Is it FAIR to all concerned?
#3 – Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
#4 – Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
~ Announcements ~
Shannon welcomed everyone to look into the following volunteer opportunities:
~ Guests ~
Joe Yoder, Guest Speaker, CEO Providence Newberg Medical Center
Anna Hinkle, Guest, Interact Club President
Doug Cain, Guest, Providence Newberg Health Foundation
~ The Rotary Duck ~
Walter: Mentioned during his flag salute that the flags are half mast to honor the over 500,000 people who have died from Covid. Walter also congratulated Todd who recently received praise for managing the Senior Citizens staying at Friendsview, keeping them safe from Covid. Also got to visit with fellow Rotarian Ray Hillman, who recently had a stroke and is in recovery. He is now walking and would love to have walking partners. We miss you Ray. He also gave a shoutout to Dan who helped put together an article published in the Newberg Advantage last week. Also shared that the couple who bought a beachhouse stay, that Walter and Julie donated at this year’s auction, said they had a wonderful time and that soon the Carusos will be over there enjoying it next.
Shannon B: Added, regarding the article about our club, that our club was approached with a generous opportunity for free ad-space from the owner/publisher of the Newberg Advantage (who is a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Canby) and that we had jumped on the opportunity to publish the good news of our club for free on a biweekly basis. This Magazine is sent to everyone within the 97132 zip code and features coupons, ads, and a variety of articles including ours. Thanked Dan for helping put it together.
Laura: Reminded us during her reading of the 4 way test that it is Good to do business with other Rotarians as a way to support each other socially and professionally. Also mentioned that she and her team (Paula, Paul, Mike) working on the EMS global grant. Mentioned that they need to raise $35,000 and so far have raised $17,616. She said she has been asked if individual Rotarians can donate to this project and that the answer is YES! You can donate to our Club Foundation and that the Club Foundation could then pass it through as a Grant to the project.
Paula: Shared that she is currently on a beach vacation with family.
Gene: Gave more appreciation towards Providence for serving and saving him over the last year. He also mentioned that his lovely wife switched to Providence as well and is very happy with her move.
Dan: Thanked Mike for helping him with the Newberg Advantage article. Also mentioned that his wife and kids are going to spend the next 4 days at the beach and he will have the house to himself to work on the next article, do chores and errands, and maybe find some very rare quiet time alone. If anyone has ideas or would like to help put together future articles, reach out to Dan.
Todd: Thanked Walter for the recognition. Mentioned that they are happy to hear that our area is going down in Covid cases and moving from “extreme risk” to “high risk” finally. Mentioned that nearly all of the Friendsview residents who signed up to be vaccinated have received their first shots and soon will be getting their second shots thanks to Yamill County’s distribution of shots. He said many of the residents getting the vaccines are VERY happy to finally be able to mingle again. Mentioned that they are adding new homes and apartments through new construction and the spots are filling up quickly which is great news.
Joe: Pointed out that NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover had a parachute which contained a hidden message in Binary Code. He greatly enjoys these types of Easter Eggs and congratulated that team for the perfect landing in a place so far away.
Total Collected today for The Duck: $80
~ Today’s Program: Providence Newberg Medical Center Updates by CEO Joe Yoder ~
Joe Yoder is fairly new to the community, currently living in Tualatin with hopes to move to the Newberg area when the right
Housing opportunity comes up. He has shown to be very committed to connecting with and serving the community in a variety of ways: community activities, volunteerism, professionalism, etc. Joe has been with Providence for over 3 years, working in Providence of Milwaukee and Klamath Falls before coming to Newberg in August.
Joe shared Providence’s Mission: “As expressions of God’s healing love, witnessed through the ministry of Jesus, we are steadfast in serving all, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.”, their Values: “Compassion, Dignity, Justice, Excellence, and Integrity.” and their Vision: “Health for a Better World.” He shared all the services they provide including but not limited to Emergency Dept with geriatric certification, general inpatient services, maternity services (8 LDRP rooms plus OR), surgical procedural services (3 ORs, 2 procedure rooms, and private pre-op rooms), diagnostic imaging (CT, MRI, Xray, Mammography, Ultrasound), an off campus sleep center, and a cardiac rehab. The physician services include Orthopedics, ENT, Urology, General Surgery, Neurology, Medical Oncology, Surgical Oncology, OB/GYN, Heart and Vascular, Pulmonary, Nephrology, Ophthalmology, GI, and Primary Care.
He highlighted that he is proud to boast about Providence’s:
- positive patient experience scores,
- annual community benefit contributions of $553,745 in 2020, up $10,000 from 2019,
- the needs assessment and commitment to serving those needs,
- their outstanding quality of service as shown through great, above benchmark, scores on a variety of metrics such as Hospital acquired infection rates, sepsis, and readmission rates,
- and their COVID response efforts and successes which resulted in safe care processes, limited workplace exposure, and vaccine deployment.
Joe discussed the importance of attracting and retaining quality professionals as well as the importance of focusing on improvement in service and resources. 2020 has caused a dip in financial resources for Providence and they are currently navigating financial recovery. They are also working hard to improve caregiver engagement as caregivers experience fatigue and burnout. They are also working on new efforts around supportive housing and behavior health. They also noted a decrease in some of their patience experience scores over the last few years that is inspiring them to work harder to navigate through the challenges of COVID and new technological strategies with services such as virtual appointments. He also mentioned a transition in long term vision and strategy when it comes to serving and funding services where healthcare is not a transnational service but a continuum of care.
Q&A: Regarding COVID response, he noted that it is hard to determine if the US would have had a better response under a National Healthcare for All type of system, as many countries with this sort of system faced similar struggles. He did note that possibly it could have served to improve coordination and communication efforts in concept. In terms of Joe’s thoughts on Medicare for All vs ACA vs private health care systems, he shared that he and Providence’s outlook on healthcare is that it should be for everyone regardless of class and financial resources, but noted that they are hesitant that Medicare for All system is the best path due to a variety of challenges that it poses due to the nature of the system. Brandy gave kudos to Providence’s support of the NSD in a variety of ways including supporting their Bond efforts this past year. The NSD is excited to continue working with him and with Providence going forward. Regarding the negative mental health impacts of social isoloation, he spoke on the efforts to follow the demand for services, respond to changes in needs, and to continue the battle with the obvious stigma people have against getting help with those sorts of problems. People need to treat mental health in the same way they treat physical health, which is improving with the incoming younger generations and general social atmosphere we are in. He also mentioned that there are new ideas in the works whereby they will be posting digital educational opportunities about improving and understanding health.
~ Next Week’s Program: Newberg Youth Homelessness & Mental Health by Shyla Jasper ~
Check your e-mails for Mike Caruso’s Zoom meeting access information.
~ Joke of the Day: For Dr. Joe Morelock ~
There are 10 types of people in the world: those that understand Binary, and those that don’t.
~ Happy Quotes! ~
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill
~ Published 2/26/2021: Dan Keuler, Newsletter Editor ~