St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Cancer Center offers many support classes and events for patients, survivors and their families. Artist, teacher and cancer survivor Lee Kellogg will offer an art journaling class in conjunction with the Cancer Center Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. This is a fantastic opportunity for patients and survivors to express their creativity while connecting with fellow patients. No prior experience is necessary - just bring your enthusiasm and willingness to try something new! Don't miss out on this chance to relax, de-stress, and let your inner artist shine. This is a free class with all supplies provided. Recurring events include: -Breast cancer support group (first Thursday of every month) -Cancer caregiver support group (every Tuesday, starting Oct. 22) -Cancer community group (every Thursday) Learn more about individual events and RSVP here: https://bit.ly/4eVDwKr

Two St. Charles nurses were among 20 honorees from across the state who received the 2024 Outstanding Nurse Preceptor Award given by the Oregon Center for Nursing. Bend surgical nurse Angela Buller was nominated by nurse manager Wendy Wait, for her consistent caring and professionalism, the positive environment she creates for her students, and exemplifying teamwork. "Many RNs who she has trained have come to work with us because of her positive spirit and solid leadership," said Wait. Bend surgical nurse Allison Coughlin was nominated by fellow nurse Kayla Johnson, as an extremely knowledgeable and capable nurse and a wonderful, humble teacher who provides an exceptional learning experience "She always finds time to go above and beyond, exceeding all expectations of a preceptor role," said Johnson. Congratulations to Angela and Allison on this well-deserved honor!

Every year after the Heaven Can Wait 5k, we love going through all the photos that capture the strength and determination of cancer survivors and the friends and family that love and celebrate them. One of our favorites photos from this year's race is of Teresa Porraz crossing the finish line of her 25th Heaven Can Wait 5k, surrounded by her incredible family and friends. Teresa is a two-time breast cancer survivor and is currently on hospice care for Stage 4 liver cancer, so this race was especially meaningful for her and her team. Teresa is an inspiration to us all. Read her story here: https://bit.ly/47yFSfX

What an incredible turnout this past Sunday for the 25th Annual Heaven Can Wait 5k! It was a gorgeous morning with more than 1,200 participants coming out to support breast cancer survivors and breast cancer awareness at Redmond High School. Over $100,000 was raised for Sara's Project, a fund through the St. Charles Foundation that helps promote women's health through education, outreach, research and breast cancer support services. A huge thank you to everyone who supported this important cause. We can't wait to see you next year!

This week a large group of St. Charles caregivers attended the Oregon Rural Health annual conference in Bend, where they enjoyed networking and sharing the great power of rural health in Oregon. The conference brings together more than 300 providers, policy-makers, public health, hospital and clinic leaders to explore topics of vital importance to Oregonians living in rural communities and to share challenges and solutions.

Hernias occur when part of your insides bulges through an opening or weakness in the muscle or tissue that contains it, and unfortunately it is a condition that can only be resolved through surgery. St. Charles General Surgeon John Land offers advice on how to avoid the risk of a hernia and what to do if you suspect you may have one.

Fall is in the air, and St. Charles President and CEO Dr. Steve Gordon encourages the community to stay healthy and get vaccinated. In the world of health care, fall also means the onset of what we used to call flu season, and now call respiratory illness season. Flu, COVID-19 and RSV are all common in our region, and each of them can cause serious illness that will wreck that camping weekend or ski vacation or holiday gathering or overseas trip you’ve been planning. Don’t let that happen. Protect yourself, protect your family and friends and protect your fun times by getting vaccinated. At St. Charles, our Family Care and Urgent Care clinics will begin administering flu and COVID vaccines to patients on Oct. 1. You can get more information on our Vaccines page: https://bit.ly/46d80Tn

A new vaccine to help protect infants from RSV is available for a second year, and it's showing remarkable promise in protecting infants under three months who are particularly vulnerable to the infection. “I believe these vaccines are working and helping to protect our vulnerable population of infants,” said Dr. Suzanne Mendez, pediatrician with St. Charles, who treats infants hospitalized with RSV each year. “And anecdotally for this past year, none of the babies with RSV on the Pediatric Unit were born to mothers who received the vaccine, so it appears to be very effective at preventing hospitalization.” In 2023, two new methods to shield infants from RSV became available: pregnant patients could get an RSV vaccine, which would give immunity to their babies when born; and monoclonal antibodies were available to give to newborns directly to protect them from contracting RSV. Both are reported to have high efficacy for preventing RSV in infants. “You can certainly help protect babies with this vaccine,” said Dr. Sarah Hellmann, OBGYN at St. Charles Center for Women's Health, who shared that the RSV vaccine decreased the risk of severe cases of RSV in infants by 81% for the first 90 days of life. “These vaccines are safe and decrease risks for babies." Learn more at our website: https://bit.ly/3THU7tc Photo: Dr. Sarah Hellmann, an OBGYN with St. Charles Center for Women’s Health, explains that about half of the pregnant patients she saw last year opted to receive the RSV vaccine and she’s hopeful that will increase this year as the vaccine and process become more widely known.

A spontaneous response to an ad in the newspaper turned into a cherished 25-year family tradition for Teresa Porraz and her family. When Grace Porraz saw the ad in 2000 for a new charity event called the Heaven Can Wait 5k to support breast cancer patients and survivors, she thought it could be a fun activity to do with her mother-in-law Teresa, who had recently recovered from breast cancer. The fundraiser, now put on by St. Charles Foundation, wasn’t something Teresa would normally do, but she decided to participate to support and celebrate other survivors. She didn’t anticipate how important the walk would become to her life personally. “We did that first walk and she was so proud that she had completed it after all the scary health stuff that she had been through,” said Grace. “When we saw that it came around again the next year we said ‘Yeah, this is going to be our thing, we’re going to do this every time.’” For 25 years, Teresa and Grace have never missed a race, even through a second bout with breast cancer and the Covid-19 pandemic. This year's walk will be especially meaningful for the family, not only as it marks the 25th anniversary of Heaven Can Wait, but also as Teresa, 72, was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer. For the first time they will be walking as a team called For Teresa, a name that going forward will honor and celebrate Teresa and her legacy long into the future. Read more of Teresa's story: https://bit.ly/47yFSfX Photo 1 (left to right): Grace, Teresa, Teresa's daughter Petra, and granddaughter Kayla (front) in 2002 Photo 2: Grace, white hat, and Grace, bottom right, with family members in 2021

This weekend our caregivers cheered as over 100 riders from the Central Oregon chapter of ABATE of Oregon visited our campuses for the 26th Annual Teddy Bear Run. The chapter and its riders donated and delivered over 3,400 new teddy bears and stuffed animals to the pediatric patients in St. Charles hospitals across Central Oregon! This event is one of our favorite traditions and we love the smiles it brings to our patients and caregivers!