Dear PPMC Colleagues,

This morning our count stood at 82 COVID positive patients – one in four patients in our
hospital is a COVID patient.

Everything we have done the past nine months has prepared us for the coming weeks as
we face an unprecedented surge of COVID-19 patients at Providence Portland Medical
Center.

Your efforts are heroic. In the coming weeks, much more will be demanded of all of us.

In Oregon, we have seen a daily increase in positive cases, and the most in Multnomah
County – that is why so many are coming to our ministry for help, and why our numbers will
continue to escalate.

To ensure we can serve everyone who needs us in the coming days, we are making the
following changes:
• 8N, 8S, 2G, 5R and a portion of critical care are now COVID units.
• We are in the process of converting 5G to a COVID unit.
• We are converting 4K from inpatient rehab to an acute medical surgical unit.
• We are opening ED fast track and patient care tents at the main entrance and in the
ambulance bay in the near future.
• We are limiting surgeries to urgent/emergency cases only.
• SSU is transitioning to support medical surgical overflow.

In addition, we will be returning to a more restricted visitor policy in the very near future. We will
have details for you in the coming days.

Beginning Thursday, Dec. 2, non-COVID patients will be allowed a single visitor for their entire
stay. We will be adding support at the access points to ensure the policy is respected. COVID
patients are not allowed visitors except in special circumstances.

As we limit our services to focus on the surge, some of you will be asked to move into new
roles as happened in the early weeks of the pandemic.

We are asking all caregivers to serve as needed, and share their expertise and talents for
the greater good to help manage the challenges we face.

Many of you may know about a prayer attributed to Hopi Elders – I want to share a few lines
from the beginning and the end:
“You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back
and tell the people that this is the Hour.
And there are things to be considered.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

We have been preparing for what is to come, it will not be easy. We will continue to do
everything in our power to care for those in our community who are coming to us in need.
It is an honor to serve with you,

Krista Farnham, chief executive

Kendall Sawa, chief operating officer
Jennifer Gentry, chief nursing officer
Scott Marsal, chief medical officer