He said he had been told recently with a rash of flu patients at Mercy there were not enough beds and patients were put in the hallways. Sandy Hendy, director of Health Occupations at Umpqua Community College and a registered nurse, remembers when there were upwards of 70 babies born each month at Douglas Community. Her career at the hospital spanned 25 years and included charge nurse in the labor and delivery unit and newborn nursery. She was also former director of the hospital Women's Center and was still an on-call employee at Douglas Community. The number of deliveries dropped as changes occurred on the corporate level, she said.
People are uneasy when there are so many changes in buying and selling hospitals.
The hospital closure also reduces the amount of health-care facilities available to students studying health occupations, Hendy said. All need clinical experience. Students still need the same clinical time when we had three. Copyright 1996, Oregon News Network. All rights reserved.