Initiatives
Samaritan works with the Oregon Department of Human Services, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program and the U.S. Department of Health and Human services to develop collaborative plans for Oregon’s Region 2, serving a population of more than 680,000.
Samaritan received grants for a HAM radio system that allows all five hospitals to communicate during a disaster, and provides backup communication means if phone, cell phone and computer networks fail. Each hospital has a power generator which will allow the radios to remain operational during power outages.
The Samaritan Emergency Management Team, in conjunction with Benton County Emergency Management, has developed an emergency preparedness booklet available to everyone. To get a copy of the booklet, email emergmgmt@samhealth.org.
Samaritan works with local county health departments to develop alternate care sites, in the event the hospital is full. Alternate care sites will allow Samaritan hospitals to treat people as close to their home community as possible, and enable the hospital to treat the most seriously-needy patients.