In this issue:

• Suicide prevention is everyone’s business
• Therapy animals strengthen connection and hope at Oregon State Hospital
• Readers share poetry about mental wellness
• New data shed light on how commercial health insurance payments to hospitals differ, despite similar services
• No newsletter next week
• Q & A
• OHA's COVID-19 resources

Suicide prevention is everyone’s business

The suicide prevention team at OHA often uses the phrase, “Suicide prevention is everyone’s business.” And we mean it. If you are human, you have a role to play in suicide prevention — all the time, not just during Suicide Prevention Month (September).

Having an awareness month gives us the chance to take a pause and check in about how we’re each doing our part. Here are some places to get started:

• Are your firearms stored unloaded and in a locked place, separate from ammunition? Most community mental health programs have safe storage devices available.
• Have you been trained in the basics of how to help someone who maybe feeling suicidal? If not, consider taking free online QPR training, which stands for Question, Persuade, R Sign up for a class in English or Spanish here.
• Do you know who and where to send someone for help? The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7, offering caring counselors if you or someone you know is in crisis, or you just want to talk. Call or text 988, or chat online in English or Spanish. Translation (for voice calls only) is available in more than 240 other languages. If you are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, 988 is available by American Sign Language videophone and other relay services.
• Get familiar with the Oregon chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which is hosting several events across the state, including the annual Out of Darkness community walks, taking place this month and next in Scappoose, Eugene, Portland and Salem.
• ▶WATCH this award-winning video made by a Klamath County youth about the warning signs of youth suicide.

You can also read our blog about preventing youth suicide and, and check out our mental health resources page if you or someone you know is experiencing stress, grief, political anxiety, loneliness, chronic health problems, financial uncertainty or any stressors.

Suicide prevention is everyone’s business. Thank you for considering ways to make it your business!

Therapy animals strengthen connection and hope at Oregon State Hospital

“When Daphne nuzzles close to the patients, it's as if she whispers, 'You're not alone, we're in this together,'" said Rhonda Herbert, Daphne’s owner-handler and animal therapy volunteer at Oregon State Hospital (OSH). Sheepadoodle “Daphne” is part of the hospital's efforts to revitalize and grow its animal-assisted therapy program post-pandemic by starting with a few community volunteers and licensed patient care staff with trained therapy animals. The animals are valuable assets to help therapists create deeper connections with their patients and broach topics like how to identify and regulate emotions through talking about how they feel before and after their time with the therapy animal.

Readers share poetry about mental wellness

New data shed light on how commercial health insurance payments to hospitals differ, despite similar services

More detail is now available about how much commercial insurance companies paid Oregon hospitals for common procedures in 2022. Updates to the Oregon Hospital Payment Report dashboard include new features to compare hospital spending by region and procedure, data from emergency department settings, and comparisons between Medicare fee-for-service (Part A and Part B) payments and commercial payments for the same procedures. Some of the new findings include: The median commercial payment for a routine birth is lowest in Central Oregon ($9,145) and highest in the Northern Coast area ($13,313). The median insurance payments in emergency settings are higher than in other outpatient settings for the same procedure types. For CT scans, the median commercial payment is more than 400% higher than that of Medicare fee-for-service ($695 vs. $127). OHA’s Hospital Reporting Program collects, maintains, analyzes, and reports a variety of data about Oregon’s general acute care hospitals. Explore past annual hospital payment reports here.

No newsletter next week

There will be no issue of Oregon Health News next week. The next issue will be published Thursday, Oct. 3.

Q & A

Questions are answered by experts at OHA and other state agencies or community partners.

Q: My husband and I do not want another mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Where can we get the Novavax vaccine? We live in Bend, and had to go to Springfield to get it last spring. We will be traveling this fall and in December and would like to be vaccinated prior to departure if possible. – Patti, Bend

A: Patti, previously the Vaccines.gov search tool allowed users to filter search results by vaccine brand, but that feature has since been removed.

Good news, though! There are two Rite-Aid locations in Bend that confirmed to us that they currently carry (as of this week) the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. Both locations require appointments, which you can make online.

• 700 SE 3rd St. (541-389-9713): Appointments available Monday through Friday.
• 1900 NE 3rd St. (541-389-1717): Appointments available seven days a week.

Admittedly, we called multiple chain and independent pharmacies throughout Bend and surrounding areas, plus the Deschutes County health department, and the two Rite Aids are the only places we found that currently offer the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. We don’t know if it will become available at other Bend locations in the future, and we did not call any Rite Aids outside of Bend.

Also, Novavax, Pfizer and Moderna have each put a COVID-19 vaccine search tool on their websites to help people find their preferred vaccines. The Novavax search tool indicates only the Kroger pharmacies in Bend and Redmond have Novavax, but when we called the Bend location this week they said their small initial supply is now gone. Those looking for Moderna COVID-19 vaccines can try using the Moderna search tool here, and those looking for Pfizer can search here.

Q: My husband and I got the RSV vaccine last fall, as well as flu vaccine and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. We will get flu and COVID-19 shots again this year. Do we need to repeat RSV as well? – Anonymous, Oregon

A: No, you and your husband do not need to repeat the RSV vaccine (to protect against respiratory syncytial virus.) It is not an annual vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends one dose of RSV vaccine for people ages 75 and older, and for people ages 60 – 74 at increased risk of RSV. Clinical trials have shown a single dose to provide protection over at least two respiratory virus seasons. Whether that protection will last beyond two seasons is still unknown. Clinical trials are ongoing, and CDC may eventually recommend an additional dose or more, but for now only a single dose is recommended. Learn more here.

If you have questions about health topics in Oregon, submit your question here. Although we are unable to answer every question, we try to address those of interest to a broad audience. Please understand that we are unable to provide specific medical advice for personal medical conditions.

If you need mental health support for any reason, help is out there.

OHA's COVID-19 resources

• Find a vaccine
• COVID-19 home page
• News and reports homepage
• Respiratory virus data home page (COVID-19, RSV, flu)
  
• Wastewater surveillance data dashboard (updated every Wednesday)

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An archive of past Oregon Health News bulletins can be found here.